Resolutions. For realsies.

A few weeks ago, Mark volunteered to make dinner on a busy weeknight. I was thrilled to take him up on his offer because I had a ton of other stuff I had to take care of - homework to check, baths to give, laundry to fold.

When he entered the kitchen, he rolled up his sleeves, cranked the radio and began to sing and dance as he prepared our meal.

Normally, the sight of a grown man singing his heart out to CCR and chopping onions would make me laugh, but to be honest, it annoyed the hell out of me.

I know. I'm a total bitch.

Instead of being appreciative that he was helping, I was resentful. I thought to myself, "Oh, how cute. Cooking is still fun for you. A special occasion. Try doing it every night. See how fun it is then."

I kept my nasty thoughts to myself, but stewed over it for the rest of the night. Still feeling sour, I mentioned the incident to my good friend, G, the next day at work.

I was all, "...and he was dancing around, having a blast. Try cooking 7 nights in a row. I'll bet it's not so much fun then."

I fully expected to get an "Amen, sista!" G's a busy single mom who has often commiserated with me on the stress of working all day and then coming home to cook and clean all night. I knew I was being petty and whiny, but if anybody would understand where I was coming from, it'd be G.

Instead, she turned on me.

"So what's the matter with you?" she asked. "Why don't you turn on some music? Why don't you make cooking fun too?"

Damn.

"Girl, quit your boo-hooing. You have to cook every night, right? You owe it to yourself to make it as fun as possible."

G was totally right. Why not turn cooking into a fun activity instead of a dreaded chore? So, thanks to G, here's my big New Year's resolution:

In 2009, I will make cooking fun again.

Here's how:

• Reorganize my kitchen/supplies (and then keep them neat and tidy).
• Crank the tunes.
• Try new recipes and dig up oldies but goodies from the past.

I jump started my plan immediately. I restocked staple ingredients, reorganized my cabinets and rearranged my spices. Before, everything was a mess, making it tough to even see what I had on hand. Now it's all nice and neat and I know exactly where everything is.

Another big change is that I moved my computer near the kitchen, so I can listen to Pandora while I work and have quick access to AllRecipes.com, one of my favorite recipe sites. And, if one of the kids wants to use the computer while I'm making dinner, I'm close enough to supervise and be part of the action. Before, I felt like I was in solitary confinement, all alone in my galley-style kitchen.

These little changes have already had a big effect. Instead of feeling confined to the kitchen, it's beginning to feel like a special room to me.

I promise to share some of my fun recipes and stories with you. And if you've got some fun/tasty/semi-kid-friendly recipes for me to try, lemme have them. I'll give them a whirl and will post the results here.