Cookin' is not my forte'

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I like recipes with photographs, just so I know what the dish is suppose to look like after it is made. I was reading an on-line magazine that included recipes that sounded good to make but there were no pictures of the dish.

I am not a 'trained cook, chef or even a person who likes to cook, but I must out of necessity. Learning to cook at an early age required the use of a can opener and how to read 'press here to open' on the boxes.

 As a budding photographer I offered my services to photograph the finished dishes made from the magazines recipes and submit them to the magazine. However, I thought, that  I would get someone else to do the actual cooking, like my husband who likes to cook.  That idea fell by the wayside fairly quickly and now I had committed myself to taking the photos, so cook I must.

It has been over a year now since I started this little project and once a month my husband and I eat one pretty good meal that we never would have tried before if it were not for the photographing of the finished plate.

 Yesterday, I made on my own, in an experimental mode, I made from scratch  a Pineapple Sweet and Sour Sauce that was, for me, excellent.
I cooked chicken breasts in a frying pan. I made the sauce separately in a pot and then combined the sauce with the chicken. Served over rice and with Snap Peas on the side. It was wonderful. I had finally done a dish that I conjured up and it turned out to be edible.

 Husband liked it but said that it had to much sweet and not enough sour, but all in all it was ok. Coming from him that is a compliment. Yes, I will make the sauce again and I will write down the ingredient, take a picture and send it out. It is wonderful to have stepped out of the comfort zone of opening cans and tearing tops off of cardboard boxes to create a meal.

I, am thankful for the opportunity that the editor of the magazine gave me, even though I am just an ordinary cook with no culinary skills.  To test the recipes and photography the results. Trust me if I can make the recipes in the magazine and still have the end result  edible, anyone can do it. So here is to all cooks, celebrating with you and the common ingredients you have in your pantry.

 Welcome to Fine Dining without leaving home.  d