Why

I love food.

I remember as a little girl playing grocery store with my sister Anne in my Grandma Cavanaugh's basement. We used a toy metal cash register that belonged to my dad and his siblings when they were little. Sometimes I'd be the cashier and sometimes the shopper. My sister and I would make up small talk while the groceries were tallied. Every once in a while the occasional curve ball would be thrown, a price check. The food was plastic, the money fake but my pleasure was real. I loved the grocery story. Whether is was a make believe one in a South Omaha basement or the genuine article. But my love for food didn't stop at paying for it.

I love to cook.

Most women of a certain age remember the Easy Bake Oven, whether they had one themselves or envied someone elses. I was lucky to be one of the former. Santa surprised me one Christmas morning with it and by the end of the day I had baked every mix included in the package. It still amazes me that a plastic encased light bulb can produce brownies. Another Christmas, Anne and I got a kitchen play set. It had a sink and a stove top that's coils were painted red so it looked hot and ready to cook. We had to make believe the fridge and usually the meals, but back then our imaginations were pretty developed even if our culinary skills weren't.

I still love the grocery store, I go everyday if I can. I like to see what's new, watch what's on sale, think about what I need, maybe treat myself to something I don't need, maybe even something I've never tried. And then when it's all rung up two of my other favorite things happen:

1) I get to see how much money I saved (I think having grown up Irish Catholic things just taste better if you got a deal) and

2) I get to cook with it.

Sometimes I have a meal in mind, a recipe I saw that I want to try and sometimes I use what I bought at the store to inspire my menu. I'm always trying new recipes and creating ones of my own and every week I have a dinner party.

I'm going to take you on this journey with me, from market to meal.

About a month ago I started keeping a food journal to keep track of all my kitchen experiments and who I had experimented on. Now I'm going to start sharing that journey online.

I'll let you know what I make, how I make it, what works for me, what problems I came across, how much it cost and in the end if my guests and I thought it was worth it. I'll let you know the sources I go to for inspiration, materials and guidance.

My hope is that through shared experiences, yours and mine, we'll find not only exciting ways to cook, but smarter ways to shop.