Well, new and exciting for me, anyways.

I've always love to cook and recently I've really begun to enjoy sharing, not just the food but the experience of making the food, with other people. Most recently, I made my first lemon meringue pie and posted pictures of every step along with the recipe on my Facebook page. I even included a super easy recipe for fondant to make cute decorations with! Sorry, only friends and family can see currently but if anyone asks I'll post a blog about it. All of the people I shared the pie with expressed their enjoyment of it (they -could- have been lying to me) and several stated that it was the first time they'd had a lemon meringue pie made with real lemons. This surprised me since it was actually VERY easy to make.

In this light, I've decided to make a small blog series on cooking. I'm going to do one or two meals a week (as my motivation drives me). I'll post step by step pictures along with recipes and I'll even include a recipe for a pet treat to go along with the meal. The twist is that I'm going to base each meal around one of my favorite Disney movies. I'll make the meal and as we sit down to enjoy it, we'll also watch the movie. Hopefully the great food distracts Mike from this torture.

Keep in mind that I am, by no means, a chef. Most of these recipes I'm going to make for the first time and there's going to be a lot of winging it. The whole project is just for fun.

Here are my meal ideas so far. All of them are tentative and might change. If anyone has any good ideas, please let me know!

Lady and the Tramp: (For us) Healthy spaghetti with 'surprise' meatballs
                                    (For the dogs)Lady's puppy pasta

The Lion King: (For us) Injera ((an Ethiopian flat bread))
                                        Boboti ((South African meatloaf))
                         (For the dogs) 'Zebra' mash

Sleeping Beauty: (For us) Petite 'dragon' legs with 'dragon's blood' sauce
                                            Veggies with a Sleepytime tea sauce
                             (For the dogs) Woodland creature cookies


Aristocats: (For us) Sushi
                   (For the pets) Special salmon treats

Cinderella: (For us) Happily Ever After cake
                    (For the dogs) Prince Charming cookies

Ratatouille: (For us) My mother-in-law's Ratatouille
                     (For the dogs) Ratatouille with a poodley twist
                                      

Have a happy New Year and I look forward to hearing what you all think!