For the first seven years of our marriage, I cooked through cookbooks. I rarely ever cooked the same thing twice. If it was a big hit meal, I might have made it 3 times. I simply loved trying something new every time I cooked.

It can be tempting to look back on those early years of marriage and cooking and think I really set myself up for failure. The standard I set for myself in the kitchen was onerous. But I like to think of it as a season that was special. The season may have changed, but the things I learned in that process made me the cook and homemaker I am today.

A friend of mine came up to me at church last week and asked, “I was wondering – now that you have four kids, do you still cook something new each time you cook?” I kind of laughed and said, “Those days are long gone.”