So my BHG, TJOC and BC cook books arrived and to say I was overwhelmed
is an understatement. I wanted to cook everything, and felt like I
didn't have enough time in the world. I seem to take to the BHG cook
book for now.

My wife said to just take it slow and pick a couple things to start
off with and see how it goes. So we picked out meatloaf, hummus,
pumpkin bread and waffles (for our new belgian waffle maker). I made
the meatloaf last night along with the overnight waffle mix. The bread
and hummus I'll get to tonight.

I then realised how many cooking tools we needed that we didn't have -
hand mixer, mixing bowls, loaf pans and more, in addition to the
consumables we had to stock up on: flour, baking powder/soda, vanilla,
brown sugar, spices.....

Everything went well when it came to the meatloaf and waffle batter.

It seems to take me forever to grab an ingredient, open it, pour it in
to the measurer, then pour it into the mixing bowl, and repeat for
other ingredients. I also kept trying to make sure I poured the EXACT
amount, i.e. 1/2 teaspoon right to the edge of the teaspoon no more no
less! I guess I just have to get a system down or get more comfortable
with what I'm doing.

The waffles turned out quite well and the meatloaf I will be eating
for lunch.

Again, I also found myself taking longer than what the recipe prep
time said it would take me, as I guess I am just beginning and getting
used to everything. Hopefully as I begin to cook more it won't take so
long. I felt like I was in the kitchen all night.

It stinks that we both have to work full time jobs, because anything
that takes long to prep & cook (i.e. an hour or more total) will have
to be made the night before for the following day's dinner since we
get home from work at 6ish. But we'll just have to make do.

All in all, it was fun, a little frustrating, but I definitely enjoyed
cooking from scratch and can't wait to try new things.

Paul