The Food Network

 Lately I've been watching the Food Network. This is a new thing for me. Most of the time my TV watching habits are very unproductive and involve a lot of really lame, entertaining story lines. I'm a sucker for characters, plots, etc.

The Food Network only really came about because I'm nursing, which means that I'm sitting in my rocking chair a good chuck of the day with my blouse open and no where to go. When my baby was younger, I'd be able to read during our interludes or even write, but now that he's gotten older and his attention is, hmm...shall we say, less focused, I find those activities impossible. And because day time television sucks, I have found myself watching the Food Network.

This has been good and bad. Good because I am learning all kinds of neat tricks and recipes, and bad because I swear I've gained ten pounds just from having the channel on. Besides the recipes and neat information--like why it's important to use room temperature eggs when baking and what cornstarch does for making cake recipes light and airy--I love watching these people talk about food. Their passion for food is unbelievable, and I dare say, infectious.

The last few weeks, I’ve been waltzing around the kitchen like I'm Emeril Lagasse. I find myself sprinkling salt into the pot and saying mmmm! out loud and when we sit down to eat, I start talking about all the different flavors and how they melt in my mouth. I will never, ever be a true chief, but watching the masters at work has changed my attitude about having to make dinner for my family every night. I will never own their complete enthusiasm for cooking, but I can take a piece of their pie. so to speak.

The truth is: passion inspires passion. (And now I sound like Oprah.) 

My passion is books. I write books, come up with plot lines and develop characters. I am always reading and can talk about books and story ideas for hours. For some people, their passion is cooking or dancing or art. Or, in the case of my sister's boyfriend, it's mushrooms. The point is, be passionate about something. And be around passionate people.

You never know where they will lead you.