my stove plays mean tricks on me.

oh how i wish i could cook.  

i wish i understood spices.  i wish a beautiful fish fillet would speak to me, and tell me which flavorings it craves.  and sides.  what was that?  you want a nice, leafy arugula salad with a light lemon vinaigrette to sit next to you?  oh of course.  i knew that.

but i didn't.  i'd be lying if i said that i knew.  

sure, i can cook things that are okay.  palatable.  edible.  most of the time they come from a box, or even more frequently, from a wonderful little pre-mixed spice shaker that i nabbed from the local jewel-osco grocery.  luckily, i live with a man who thinks that the knock-off version of shake-n-bake, when tossed over chicken, is his own homemade 5-star meal.  i do not have to deal with the burden of terribly discerning taste buds.  one of my dogs ate part of a sock the other day.  they also enjoy my cooking.

i feel obliged to say that i have a handicap -- something that has prevented me from deserving that finely-fitted toque.   i am an apartment dweller.  my kitchens have always been tiny.  cheap appliances.  countertops that disappear underneath a cutting board.  don't even get me started on storage.  i own a food processor that can handle 1/2 cup of anything at its max and i still don't know where i'm going to put the dang thing.  i don't own a set of beaters.  i do, however, have a blender, and have learned the hard way that mashed potatoes should never be made in one of those.  i could have built myself another set of cabinets with the cement that resulted from that little experiment gone awry.

okay, so it wasn't an experiment.  i honestly thought it would work.  

so now do you know why i don't write about cooking?  i admire the blogs that do.  i drool over the wonderful dishes that they whip together with expertise and slight of hand.  i can almost taste the photos that they post, as if they are not only professional chefs but it seems like ansel adams lies resting in their family tree.  if you want to learn how to actually make something yourself from scratch, my most favorite (and in my opinion, the most outstanding) blog on living gluten-free is gluten-free girl.  but wait, if you go to her side, you may never return here.  

darn.  

so now i'm assuming that i am writing to myself.  i find me entertaining most of the time.  

as far as actual cooking goes, there will be very little of that on this blog.  i just can't compete with what's out there, and i wouldn't want to eat my own creations anyway.  if i am feeling especially ambitious some day and it actually turns out okay, i'll post it.  but plan on seeing mostly resto reviews, chicago findings, and the occasional baking expedition that starts with a box of GF "just add water" mix.  some of those are amazing.  some just aren't.  and i'll tell you all about that too.  

aren't you pumped?  oh wait.  you're reading that other blog.  

well, i'm excited.