Did I ever mention I own pink mixing bowls?

Clark Kent ruined it for every woman on this side of Krypton. He's hot, he wins journalism awards -- and he cooks. So it should come as no surprise that at the ripe old age of 13, I decided I was going to marry someone who would have dinner waiting when I arrived home from working toward my next Pulitzer.

It also should come as no surprise that I married someone who can't really cook.

Well, technically, he makes great garden burgers, and he browns ground turkey for me since I suck at it, but that isn't exactly what I had meant.

When we bought our house in 2004, I started out simple, with spaghetti and tacos and chicken Kiev, and the irony is, the more I cooked, the more I liked it, and the more adventurous I became.

Adventurous enough that when we registered for our wedding, I scanned a ton of cooking stuff -- everything from pots and pans and a KitchenAid mixer (swoon) to a meat thermometer and different types of measuring cups (who knew they even made different types!) -- and two years later, I use it all. (And about those pink mixing bowls, they were an unexpected wedding present from William-Sonoma, and I LOVE them.)

It turns out I love to shop for food. (Well, it's no Nordstrom anniversary sale, but really, what is?) I have so much fun wandering around in Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, or even Costco (even if I do have a tendency to buy cantaloupe or sour cream in bulk and then have a "what the hell am I going to do with this?!?" moment when I get home). I like trying new recipes and reading food blogs and swapping ideas with a certain Igloo at 3 a.m. ;-)

Who'd have thought I would be able to make quiche and homemade chili and strawberry rhubarb pie and truffles? I don't know if Lois would be impressed -- or disgusted that I broke ranks.

Unfortunately, these days, my problem isn't a lack of talent -- it's a lack of time.

I always make out my grocery list with the best of intentions -- and then get mad when the vegetables rot and the bread molds, and I'm telling Chris we're having Taco Del Mar again.

But I have a little more time these days (you know, when I'm not writing fic, planning a baby shower, going to work and juggling 200 other tasks) so this afternoon I spent a couple hours pouring over recipes, made an ambitious meal plan, and went grocery shopping. I planned eight meals (I cook four days a week), and I'm going to post them here. That way, it will be a little harder to blow off dragging my pathetic pink self out to the kitchen. (Especially since finding sun-dried tomatoes was no easy task.)

So here's what we'll be eating the next eight (cooking) days:
1. Spinach/ham/sun-dried tomato calzones made with whole-wheat dough and a Greek salad
2. French onion soup macaroni and cheese
3. Chicken cordon bleu, parmesan garlic orzo and steamed zucchini
4. Cheese tortellini with spinach/tomato cream sauce and a Caesar salad
5. Low-fat ground turkey chimichungas.
6. Balsamic chicken and garlic mashed potatoes
7. Cream-cheese chicken squares with puffed pastry and southwestern pasta salad
8. Ground-turkey chili and homemade cornbread.

And while I was writing my grocery list -- and talking to two friends -- I had an idea. Would any of you guys be game for, like, FoLC Iron Chef? (Yeah, yeah, look at me branching away from uh, ficathons.) Like where we all make the same recipe one night, and see how it goes -- and post about it on our blogs or something? It would be something easy to cook, and easy to shop for (since some people aren't in the U.S.) but I think it could be a ton of fun. So I figured I'd float the idea and see if anyone had preliminary interest in it.

After all, pasta has an effect on all continents. ;-)