My delusions will become reality

Dan and I watch a lot of cooking shows. Our favorites are the competition shows, especially with Gordon Ramsay. His flair is "stunning." We love when a mystery ingredient is revealed - we look at each other and ask, "what would you make?" When we're bored in the car, we play "Chopped" where we try to come up with the most jacked up combinations of foods (ribs, Cheerios, passion fruit and Jello, anyone?) to see what the other would make with them. It's a nerdy little thing we do, and cuisine is something we're both interested in.

All the cooking shows have ignited this fabulously inflated perception that I actually could cook like a chef. The reality is, we eat crock pot chicken weekly and I sometimes over-cook asparagus. While I may never actually get to go to culinary school, I'm inspired to at least try to expand my horizons and learn some new techniques. I've been keeping a mental list of things I see that I want to learn to make, and I've decided to create a sort of bucket list and challenge myself to learn them. Not perfect, but try. It may not be fabulous, but I want to at least give these foods a shot. Now some of these may make you say "pshaw, I make that in my sleep." Well, I don't. Feel free to share your recipe :)

My Cooking To-Do List:

• Risotto


• Lemon curd


• Ravioli from scratch


• Mascarpone


• Live lobster


• Tiramisu


• A grown-up Mac'n'Cheese


• Cornish game hen (just 'cause it sounds fancy)


• Beef Wellington


• Caesar dressing


• Ceviche


• Crabcakes


• Trifle


• Red wine reduction (I know! I should know how to do this)


• 3 gluten free dessert recipes


• Shrimp tempura sushi roll


• French onion soup


• Hollandaise sauce (I don't like it, but I feel like I should know how to make it)


• Stuffed french toast (a Chopped staple)


• Homemade tortillas


• Caramel

This list will, I'm sure, be expanded. These are just the items I've added to my mental list over the last few weeks, and I'm sure I'll come up with more. But I think it's a good starting point.

What's on your cooking to-do list?