“Bon appétit!” -Julia Child

The inspiring master chef, Julia Child once said, “until I discovered cooking, I was never really interested in anything.” My problem has been quite the opposite. From a young age I have, in fact, been infinitely interested in countless pursuits. In fact, I once even entertained being a ninja and took a full month of Karate before moving on to become a drummer.  Two years later, my drum-set was collecting dust and I was buying my first guitar.  God bless my parents and their willingness to humor and support my dreams of being an Olympic spring boarder and putting up with a lifetime supply of Island Magazines for my determination to own a Caribbean resort.  No, Julia, a lack interests has never been my issue. Perhaps my issue was that I had too many.  Too many to fit in cooking, that is. 

When it comes to cooking…well, let’s just say I can’t remember the last time I cooked something other than a quesadilla, salad, or on those rare-motivated mornings an omelet.  (While I would like to put in a side note and say something along the lines of, “to be fair, I make an excellent quesadilla, salad, and omelet,” when I take into consideration how often I make these three items, they better be damn good!) 

Over the weekend Hurricane Irene blew in all sorts of things and to my surprise, motivation to cook was one of them! Blame it on cabin fever or one quesadilla too many (if that’s even possible?), but Sunday night I found myself googling recipes and creating my game plan. Monday I would cook.

And cook I did! My recipe of choice was Spinach & Feta Stuffed Chicken.  This particular recipe had received 60 reviews and all but four reviewers gave it a 5/5 (the other four debbie-downers gave it a 4/5). Each review mentioned how “easy” it was, in fact one person went as so far to say it was, “impossible to botch.”  I figured that if 60 people found it easy, that significantly upped my odds of success.  Besides, if I mess up something “impossible to botch” that will be a sign to stick with my dynamic trio.  

I spent the first 30 minutes stressing over what to most cooks might seem like obvious details “how will I know when the spinach is done cooking?” and “what is a cutlet!?” But eventually I succumbed to Julia’s approach: “In cooking you've got to have a 'What the hell?' attitude.” I poured myself a glass of Chardonnay, turned up the tunes, and went to work.  The result? Deliciousness. The chicken turned out great – tender, flavorful, dare I say, succulent. The side dish, on the other hand, a bit better than mediocre.  However, according to Julia, “no one is born a great cook, one learns by doing.”  I have no idea where my side-dish took a turn for the average, but I am hoping a quick call home will get me back on the straight and narrow (it’s one of mom’s specialties).  

Julia Child was 32 when she first started cooking – “up until then, I just ate." This resonates all too well. For most of my adult life, I have just been eating.  However, last night, for the first time, I cooked.  Where erstwhile laid a salad, I sat down to a well balanced delicious meal of my own creation.  I suppose this means my Caribbean resort owning aspirations will have to wait a bit longer while I graduate from culinary school.

*Just to be fair, this is not my picture.  Although my chicken did turn out great, it was not this picturesque (something to work towards, I suppose).  Should you want to take a stab at the deliciousness, you can find the recipe here: http://www.food.com/recipe/spinach-feta-stuffed-chicken-breast-quick-easy-224947

And remember, it’s “impossible to botch.” So, no pressure.

“I'm gonna ride a bike hard, I'm gonna ride a bike fast, and, oh yeah, I'm not gonna go anywhere!!” –Dee from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

 Alright, so this week I somehow convinced myself to be pulled from sacred slumber at 6 freakin’ am to attend spin class.  For those of you who know me, you know this is no small feat, but somehow motivation prevailed.  So, there I was, Tuesday and Thursday morning walking into spin class.  Now, I’ve had my fair share of spin class experience, (in fact going three times a week in Kuwait was one of the main things that kept me sane in that roasting sand box), but no matter how many times I’ve participated in this beloved-by-so many fitness ritual, I cannot get over how silly the whole concept is.  Since it had been about a year since my last spin class, I had somewhat forgotten about all its subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) idiosyncrasies.  Let’s start with the fact that people religiously go and mount stationary bikes placed in strategic rows for optimal view of the instructor (which, might I add, they somehow always manage to be up on some sort of pedestal – but that’s a whole other matter).  

Next, there’s the issue of lighting, or should I say lack-there-of.  Every spin class I have ever been to has been conducted in utter darkness.  Now, I’m no cyclist, but I can’t imagine there’s a lot of night rides going on. However, maybe the lack of lighting is to help us in the imagination department.  There’s a lot of imagination involved in spin class.  We’re constantly instructed to climb mountains, race opponents, and win sprint time trials.  I’m sorry, what mountains and opponents are we talking about?  The only people I’m beating are fools are in the second row with limited access to the fan. Somehow the instructor always manages to forget the stationary aspect of spinning.  I understand that these imaginary games are supposed to motivate us to try harder, dig deeper, push ourselves just that much more, but it’s always been hard for me to get over the fact that we’re sitting in the dark, going nowhere, sweating profusely.

Rather than these mental motivations, I rely more on the music to get me through the 45 minutes of stationary fun.  Though, even the music choices of these classes have been woefully questionable.  In one particular class we spun not just once, but twice to “Where the Streets Have No Name.” While I enjoy this U2 classic as much anyone, twice? Aren’t there other named roads we can ride along? Another favorite is Tom Cochrane’s “Life is a Highway.” It should come has no surprise that any song mentioning: Street, road, or highway are big hits in spin class (part of the whole simulating a real ride by mentioning where a real ride would be taking place).  Each instructor spices things up with their own special musical whims. When I was in Kuwait, my instructor had a small number of songs which he played quite frequently.  At the time I chalked it up to the fact that he either had a small selection, or really liked these songs.  However, when I returned to spin class this week I as was astonished to be spinning the exact same songs! What are the odds of that?! I mean, seriously. Bothered by what seemed to be too much of a coincidence, I googled top spin class songs/playlists to investigate.  First of all, across all “top spin class songs” lists, I have never heard a single one of the listed songs played in any of my classes.  What’s more, none of the songs that I’ve heard over and over again (and across the world, I might add) made the lists.  Does this seem bizarre to anyone else?! What’s even more bizarre, (I know, I know, how could it get more bizarre?!) in my experience the most played spin class song is Kelly Clarkson’s “My Life Would Suck Without You.”  Again, what are the odds?  

If you’re having a difficult time understanding why I find this is so baffling, or if you’ve been on the fence about trying out spin class, I encourage you to take your computer into a dark room, put on Clarkson’s tune at full volume (two other international favorites to try are: Pretender by the Foo Fighters and Home by Paul Van Dyk), and start running in place while imagining you’re competing in a big race and you’re number one goal is to come in first against the hundred other competitors.

Fun huh? I’ll see you in class next Tuesday morning.