I have some dished that I need to upload that precedes these, but thought I should post something.  

Here are a couple cooking projects I gave myself.  I don't normally have time to cook during the week and so I tend to have an itch to make myself try a new dish on the weekend.  Some people eat to clear their thoughts, I need to cook to clear them.

Couple weekends ago I made Jason some Anaheim Chili, lime dredged shrimp tacos w/ cilantro slaw and fresh salsa on toasty corn tortilla. Kinda made up my own recipe for this one and it turned out awesome. I really love shrimp tacos. You don't feel so guilty afterwards. ;)

On a whim this past Sunday I decided to try making pierogies from scratch. I love Pierogies, but I'm not sure what made me take on the task.  

I always think, "Oh, this will be easy" but the projects always end up more nvolved than intended.  It actually wasn't difficult to make, just time consuming and alot of steps for a Sunday night.  But, nevertheless, I was on a mission.  

After grabbing some ingredients I got home and realized we forgot a couple things, so Jason went to the store to pick them up. While he was gone I started peeling the potatos and it was difficult. My fingers felt so weak and each potato felt like a brick.  Peeling 3 potatos took me about 5 minutes when it should only take 30 seconds.  

Well, this is the usual.  Everything I do takes twice as long and then pair that up with high standards and you have quite a project. I guess that is why it is meaningful, because so much is required in everything I do.  Nothing is easy, but I'm not prepared to compromise standards.  

I try not to get upset but it is so glaringly obvious that my arms and hands are so much more weaker than a year ago. My legs had problems, but I could withstand them and crank out a meal for ten as long as it was accompanied by a good amount of stamina.  But, now my arms and fingers are getting so weak and it sometimes breaks my heart to think of the possbility of one day no longer being able to cook.

This probably won't happen for awhile, but it just requires that much more strength and stamina from me to carry on the task. I guess, I just can't let it go. I love it too much like alot of things that leave me. The love of certain things came about from losing other abilities, like running and being active, so I improvised and gave my attention to things I could do, like cooking and drawing. But now those things are slowly being taken from me.

I have alot on my mind lately and when that happens I tend to want to put my mind somewhere else, like cooking for example.  Cooking is one of my quiet places, it's comforting. My mind is at ease and purely in intution mode. I can't sit still even though that's all my body wants to do, so that is why I gve myself these little projects to keep my mind going and challenged. Plus, it's fun!

Below is my Golubtsis (stuffed cabbage) and Piergoies from scratch.  I've never made Pierogies, but they turned out really good. Inside the Piergoies is potato, carmelized minced onion, leeks and garlic all mixed with 3 cheeses, ricotta, sharp cheddar and parmesan cheese.  It was a fun project, but I was cursing myself by the end of it ;).