I am my mother's daughter...

I come from a long, distinguished line of amazing foodies... on my mother's side anyway. Sorry, dad, but the fact that you have lived with our mother for 40 odd years but still don't know how to do more than barbecue (which, incidentally, how is it that so many men can bbq but can't actually cook? it doesn't really make sense when you think about it...) does not speak well to your culinary lineage.

But my mom, and my mom's mom, grandma - who, at 92, still puts together an amazing thanksgiving dinner and wicked perogies - they're one step away (if at all) from Martha, Julia, Mario B. stature when it comes to all things in the kitchen. It's a lot to live up to!

But having Archer has finally given me the time and inclination to try in earnest. I am trying to cook everything my mom throws my way recipe-wise - although she said she's not going to give me the Julia Child Beef Bourguignon recipe until Archer graduates from college because I'll have no time to make if before then - and I'm trying to improve my actual technique in the kitchen.

Like, for example, cutting and chopping stuff. I am a terrible cutter and chopper. It's a special skill to cut and chop things properly...like being good at art almost, which decidedly, I am not good at. But I'm trying. Looking things up on the internet, consulting cookbooks and calling my mom a million times a week with questions like, "if I don't have cooking sherry, what can I use?"

So it came as little surprise to me that last time I was at the mall I had, pretty much for the first time, an overwhelming desire to go into Williams Sonoma.

And OMG (I'm too old to use that I know), I love this store...

Have you been in lately at all? Do you share with me all of a sudden a desire to have a set of really good knives, the perfect pots and pans and like a library of cookbooks? I am! I spent like an hour talking to a very friendly sales lady about a bunch of things in the store that I'll talk about in future postings... of course said sales lady wasn't that friendly after she realized I wasn't really buying anything (WS is a wee out of this DM's budget at the moment - hint to hubby, Christmas is really just around the corner... really) but I learned a lot!

And if not for yourself, Williams Sonoma also has stuff for the little guy... up top is a display of items all devoted to the pint-sized palette. They have the Beaba Babycoo line which includes a steamer and processor for you to prepare your own baby food. Maybe I should just not be a sucker and just use a blender or my current food processor a la 1984 but it looks like this one actually has some specific benefits for baby. Check it out here: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/e203/index.cfm?pkey=xsrd0m1%7C16%7C%7C%7C0%7C%7C%7C%7C%7C%7C%7Cbaby&cm%5Fsrc=SCH.

Archer's a little ways away from solids but this - along with a cookbook called appropriately "Cooking for Baby" http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/sku5344569/index.cfm?pkey=xsrd0m1%7C16%7C%7C%7C0%7C%7C%7C%7C%7C%7C%7Cbaby&cm%5Fsrc=SCH has me inspired to start thinking about scrapping the notion of store-bought baby food for fresh food made at home. Is that crazy? Probably. I'll report back in a couple months time to tell you if this was just a pipe dream...