Been trying to

get interested in cooking again, but it's not working. Didn't think it would, but I did find two or three new recipes to add to my repertoire so it wasn't a complete waste of time.

Finished reading through all my cookbooks, and the one I found the most useless was The Cook's Encyclopedia of Four Ingredient Cooking. Sounded like a winner when I bought it, but a more apt title might be The Cook's Encyclopedia of Ingredients You'll Never Find in This Town. Dude, I live in Oklahoma! Where the hell am I going to find Halloumi cheese? Or strained sheep's yogurt? Oh, and it included this bit of helpful advice:

Mealy varieties of potato, such as Pentland Squire, King Edward, or Marfona are best for mashing as they produce a light fluffy result. Waxy potatoes are more suitable for baking, or for salads, as they produce a dense, rather starchy mash.

Uh, right. Around here, we get to choose from the five-pound bag, the ten-pound bag, or baking potatoes by the pound. That's pretty much it.

Finally went and spent my Bed, Bath & Beyond gift card that Bridgie gave me for Christmas a year ago (thank you, Bridgie!). Got a new shower curtain and liner (that drafty old green thing is gone so Mom, Phil and Jamie, you can come back now and shower in comfort), a double boiler (never had a one before and always thought I ought to), and a new rolling pin.

I've never in my life been able to roll out dough without it wrapping itself terminally around the rolling pin, causing me to throw the whole mess across the room, so I don't really know what I'm going to do with the damned thing. Maybe I'll bake a pie or something.

If I do, no one will be more surprised than me.