I’ve mentioned before how I watch Worst Cooks in America and how I don’t believe they can really be that clueless when it comes to cooking. These people claim they can’t even boil water and act like they’ve never even seen a stove before. I don’t understand this. I wonder how they’ve survived as long as they have. Surely they haven’t eaten fast food their entire lives and surely there hasn’t always been somebody there to cook for them. Add in the fact that I love to cook and try new recipes, and I just don’t get it. But it does make me wonder how many folks out there can’t cook, won’t cook, or are afraid to cook.

I eat a lot of things now that I wouldn’t eat as a child or even a young adult. I have some picky eaters for children. I’m hoping that they, too, will broaden their food horizons as they get older. I keep trying to tell them what a great food world they are missing out on because they won’t try new foods or new dishes. I’ll admit there are things that I won’t try, but I have as I’ve gotten older been more willing to try things I wouldn’t have even considered trying 20 years ago. Then, there are those things that I have tried and I just don’t like. I don’t think anybody likes everything out there, but you have to be willing to try, and the same applies when it comes to cooking. You have to be willing to try new recipes. I’ve made sure that all my kids can cook enough so they won’t starve when they are on their own, and I’ve also made sure that they know how to follow a recipe (and that they can call and ask when they get stuck on something) for when they want to try something new.

Yesterday, I tried a new recipe because Cody had asked me to. He loves French bread, and he asked me to try to make it. Normally, we just buy it, and let’s face it, it’s a whole lot easier to just go to the store and pay $1.50 for a loaf of French bread. However, because he asked, I was willing to try. I’ve never cooked with yeast. I avoid all-purpose flour and use self-rising whenever I bake anything. Until yesterday. The whole process took a couple of hours, but it was a wonderful feeling of accomplishment when I had finished, and when I took the bread out of the oven and I had two loaves that actually looked like French bread. It wasn’t perfect. The texture was a bit dense, but for a first effort it wasn’t bad. First, we just spread a little Shedd’s Spread on there and let it melt, and later, we used a loaf to make cheesy garlic bread to go with our Cajun chicken pasta dish for supper.

By the time Cody actually got home, the remaining loaf had hardened up. I had left it on the counter, unwrapped, and that was definitely a mistake on my part. Unfortunately, though, that meant he didn’t enjoy it as much as we did. However, I learned my lesson. Don’t leave the loaf out and uncovered for six hours.

I will try to make this French bread again, and I have a few things I’ll do differently. Whenever we do a new recipe, we generally follow the instructions as they are written (unless it calls for an ingredient we don’t like, such as mushrooms, and then we just leave those out), and then based on how it turns out, we make modifications for future attempts. I think the texture of the bread will be a little better next time because I’ll make sure I use warmer water to mix with the yeast, I will cut out about a half cup of flour, I will allow about ten extra minutes of rise time than the recipe calls for, and I will not leave the loaf sitting on the counter for six hours. I’m not going to stop taking the easy route of just buying French bread at the store, but from time to time, it will be a nice treat to do a homemade loaf.

Like all things you do for the first time, trying a new recipe can be a little scary, but that feeling of accomplishment when it turns out pretty good should be enough to keep you looking for new recipes to try. Cooking can be great fun. Think of it as an adventure. So get out those cookbooks or go over to Pinterest and find yourself a new recipe to try. If you’re interested in homemade French bread, here’s the link to the recipe I used: http://www.yourhomebasedmom.com/easy-french-bread/