Nice Little Ego Boost

As previously mentioned, things have been a bit slow for me around here and it has made me feel a bit purposeless and like I should have more to do-and that the things I actually DO do aren't good enough.

So, the other day when I finally indulged and made mint brownies, I was surprised when Lester then asked if he could bring the whole pan for his class the next day. I figured, what the heck, I can just re-do it tomorrow, or whatever. It felt good when he came home though, like the kid who brought birthday cupcakes to class or something, all smiley, saying everyone LOVED them, and the teacher told Lester how spoiled he was-especially when he saw the individual chicken pot pie I had made from scratch for Lester's lunch that day as well.

I also forced myself to go to our wards recipe club-like I said, I don't know anyone and its been a bit rocky, but I'm really glad I went. I got some good recipes, met some nice girls, and was able to contribute. I brought my Uncle Gil's lumpia recipe, and everybody sounded really excited that someone had brought 'ethnic' food and that I had experience to help [it was probably because they were almost all white haha, but there ya have it!]

So then this Saturday, when Lester had his long 24 hr shift, I made my weekly treat of these super naughty brownies I dreamed up. They were good, but REALLY rich, so Lester and I gave them to a bunch of our neighbors and some ward members. Because we didn't love them, I was surprised to get multiple texts back saying how amazing they were and could they have the recipe and stuff. One of the girls actually brought our plate by today, and I happened to be cooking dinner [one big pan of baked ziti for the two of us tonight, and one smaller one in the corning ware for Lester to bring to his hospital shift for dinner tomorrow] and she said, "wow you are just amazing-so you did culinary school then? " HAH. I wish.

I guess the reason I'm blogging about this is because while I feel a little lost in this strange limbo time, I am still me and I am still good at something and can contribute. I always knew I could cook and bake just fine, but I never thought much of it, because I always thought I paled in comparison to my Mom who is the pro, and that anyone who would actually decide to cook could do just as well as me. And while that may still be true, it just felt good to here the things I am doing ARE worthwhile to others, and that I'm good at something. Its like the Dad says in Princess and the Frog, "You know the thing about good food? It brings folks together from all walks of life. It warms them right up and it puts little smiles on their faces." As silly as this all sounds, I'm glad I can bring smiles to peoples faces through my food, and they to mine through this nice ego boost.