WANTED: The Spice of Life...and Food

Above is a chicken noodle soup I made entirely from scratch when living in Louisiana.  I was so proud, so inspired.

I lost the spice of life when I lost the spice in food.  Moving from Baton Rouge, Louisiana - a state very much known for its flavorful foods that would excite even the most depressed palettes - to the city of Dothan in Alabama took something away from me and my kitchen.  In Louisiana, I was surrounded by influence and seasonings all the time.  In Alabama, I am surrounded by your everyday, run-of-the-mill chain restaurants and a few local, but boring eat-ins.  I feel as though the chain restaurants here have even less flavor than the chain restaurants in Louisiana...Louisiana just has a different breed of chefs, of people who love to eat, drink and cook.  The things like this have taken away my inspiration to cook, and when I do cook now my food is bland.  It's like this Alabama town is rubbing off on me.  How do I go back?!  How can I put the spice back into my food and ultimately back into my life when it has been ripped from my mouth?  Well, I can blog about it.  And I can read other's blogs about food in hopes of regaining a sense of confidence and excitement for food. 


I left Louisiana with hopes and dreams of learning more about food...and drink, for that matter...in different areas of the country.  Of course, this was not by choice as my husband is a military man.  Disappointingly, I have not found any new information or been able to adventure with my food here.  I have taken 5000 steps backward in terms of my cooking abilities, and this has taken a toll on my overall life.  In Louisiana, food was my getaway...a way to make a bad day a great day.  I rely on food; I took advantage of food.  I want to know and grow in my kitchen, and I want to bring flavor to this city...at least in my own personal kitchen. So here is my plea, my help wanted ad reads "WANTED:  The spice of life and food."  With this blog, I hope to share my adventures in learning who I am in my kitchen again as well as restaurant critiques. 


Note:  I do not claim to be a professional food blogger, writer or critic.  However, I do and will share my thoughts and opinions.