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Unlike Bike Riding, You Can Forget How to Cook

By Madelyn Miller

I have been doing yoga classes every day
I am inspired to eat healthy

I went to the trendy Central Market with my friend Judith
I bought Japanese eggplant, and then went to Whole Foods and bought pears and sweet potatoes

I decided to cook

I put chicken breasts in a pan with sliced sweet potatoes and pears and poured some Shiraz over it.

Some really good Shiraz I had brought back from South Australia.
Smelled yummy.
Called my friend Kevin and told him I was cooking.
He thought I had a wrong number.

Even though he is a good friend, he met me after my gourmet days of living in a house with five ovens and winning cooking contests.

The exterminator came. The timer rang. So I opened the oven (so I could impress him with the aroma reflecting my culinary skills, if not my housekeeping skills, as he tried to spray around all the boxes and piles here)
It looked almost done so I turned off the oven, and thought it would simmer while the oven cooled off.

Then I took a nap and dreamed of my delicious dinner
I thought I should invite someone over to share it.

Then I woke up.
I had turned off the microwave (next to the timer) not the oven.
I have charcoal chicken briquettes surrounded by charred pears and burnt sweet potatoes.

I knew there was a reason I stopped cooking.
I just could not remember why.
Now I know.

I think I can still ride a bike. But I have not tried recently.

BACK TO THE BASICS

Next time, I will use a cookbook. I will use a timer. I will turn off the overn.

Here are a few of my favorite cookbooks.

Weight Watchers 5 Ingredient 15 Minute Cookbook
www.Oxmoorhouse.com
Easy and low calorie. What more could you want?

The 250 Best 4-Ingredient Recipes
By Margaret Howard
Published by Robert Rose, Inc.

The honey-glazed chicken and Thai burgers from this cookbook that saves time without sacrificing great taste have become a staple in my diet

DESSERTS

I believe that last is the best. And recipes that start with a box of cake-mix are really halfway done.

Quick Fixes with Mixes
Cakes, Cookies, Bars and Goodies
By Lia Roessner Wilson
www.CookbookResources.com
Published by Cookbook Resources

Try these favorites—Cranberry Apple Crumb , Pecan Pie Bars, Chocolate Dipped Malted Milk Cookies

Chocolate from the Cake Doctor
By Anne Byrn (author of The Cake Mix Doctor)
Workman Publishing
www.workman.com

If there is anything better than easy, it is something that is easy AND Chocolate.

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