Fritatta Challenge!

Before I announce the winner of yesterday's giveaway of a signed copy of It's No Secret: Revealing Divine Truths Every Woman Should Know, let me explain the frittatta comment at the end of yesterday's post.  I've decided I'm making fritattas all through the month of May.

You're thinking that's really random, right? I know, but let me explain why I'm doing this.  And why I think you might want to join me.  :)

I want to craft a satisfying life that is pleasing to God. That's my mission. I believe feeding my family and enjoying my food is piece of that. See Proverbs 31:14-15 and Ecclesiastes 3:12-13 as the anchors for those beliefs. 

As such, I want to learn to cook more things we like. And I want to like cooking them. But, I don't just want to try a new recipe out every now and then - I want to master a dish. Yes, I'm driven that way.  (If only I wanted to master the basket of laundry ...) Mastery doesn't happen unless you stay at something a while, learning it's in and outs. I plan to find what techniques work best for me, discover what combinations my family likes, and by May 31, be able to create a fritatta without a recipe.

By the end of May, I want to be totally at one with the fritatta!

What is a fritatta, you ask?  It's a versatile egg-based skillet dish, usually with meat, vegetables and cheese. They are easy to make, healthy, high in protein, quite economical, and as flexible as a world-class gymnast. They can be served for breakfast, lunch or dinner. They can be made elegant - like for a wedding shower brunch - or as a weekly means to clean out the fridge or veggie drawer.

I once heard Italian Food Network chef Giada pronounce "fritatta," and it sounded so fun with the Italian accentuation. Follow this link to hear some guy say it the American way and then the slightly punctuated Italian way. I say it the Italian way because I'm all about fun.

Come on, say it out loud with me: freeeet TAH dah.  I told you.

Back in the winter I got in the habit of coming home after church, kicking off my shoes (which inevitably drops me down an inch or more), pouring a glass of iced tea and whisking up the fritatta recipe from the Philadelphia cream cheese company.  It was the first and only one I've made, but I've made this one like five times.

My whole family likes it. Plus, I get to have the left-overs for breakfast the next day. Which works out well since I'm rarely interested in cooking before 9:00 AM. I usually wake up "in stages."  The cooking stage doesn't kick in til mid-morning. We'll see if that changes this month.

Soooo, I'm challenging myself to commit over the next four weeks to make at least two different fritatta recipes each week and blog about it. I'll share the recipes I try, tell you my successes and my failures (those are more than likely!) and post a few photos of my creations. I'll also teach you the tips I learn. I'll post about this every Tuesday and Friday in May.

Listen, I'm not the world's best cook. I'm probably not even the best cook on my cul de sac. I'm no LeAnn Rice! But I've decided that if I have to cook on a regular basis - and I do, what with my need for food and my lack of a live-in chef - I'm going to find a way to enjoy it.  And get good at it. What I'm saying is, if I can master the fritatta in May, so can you.

So follow along with me in my mad May "freeeet TAH dah" mastery experiment. Try making the recipes that look good to you. Let me know how it goes if you do. Leave me comments suggesting yummy ingredient combinations for my next fritatta. Blog your own fritatta tries for me to see. Or just stop by to gawk at what I managed to burn. Or at my bad photography.  Just don't let me eat alone.  :)

Here's a link to a Word document with the Ham and Cheddar Philly Fritatta recipe I spent many a Sunday sabbath with this winter.  And here is it in a PDF file. My pic of it is above, and below.  Let me know if you try it and like it - or don't as tastes vary.

Oh, and yesterday's winner is KJEAN.  Kjean, email me your address for the book!