So why the welcome back? Did we go anywhere? Well, not really it just seems like we haven’t been in the kitchen much. Really there is always so much going on here that we don’t have the time to enjoy the kitchen. Truth be told, I haven’t gotten wound up over spending time in the kitchen for ages. Even prepping for parties has become sort of mechanical. We know we’ve got X number of people coming over, so we plan a menu the morning of and spend the afternoon banging together a feast. It had become a process, not a joy. Some people fret over how they will get ready for a dinner party. We’ve done so many that we just make it happen. It’s not that the joy was gone, it just wasn’t all that exciting any more.

Over the last few months, it’s somehow managed to get even worse. There are so few hours in a week that cooking is more of a chore than a pleasure. We’ve been eating out or ordering in a couple of times a week at least.

Somewhere over the past couple of weeks though, it seems to have changed. I spent last Saturday afternoon prepping for guests and had a blast. Today, I spent most of the afternoon making the biggest pot of chili I’ve ever made. More important than my St Patties day chili is the fact that I had an absolute blast cutting up 4 pounds of veggies, swingin’ a fine German blade while swilling some sweet Irish brew. I don’t know what’s changed, but I’m having fun in the kitchen again!

Not a moment too soon, as the plans are under way for the biggest bash that the FAB East kitchen has ever seen. 4 Fortieth birthdays and a 40 something, all being celebrated on one day! It’s gonna be a howl!