How Maggy Got Her Groove Back

Several weeks ago Three Many Cooks attended Blogher Food in San Francisco. Most of you reading this post will have little to no interest about the conference itself. Aside from maybe a good explanation for this…

(Amanda from What We’re Eating, Joy from Joy the Baker and me)

….or this

(Amanda from What We’re eating, Alice from Savory Sweet Life, Marla from Family Fresh Cooking, Jenny from Picky Palate, Amanda from Kevin and Amanda, Lori from RecipeGirl and Kathy from PaniniHappy)

….or a recipe for the mind-blowing bacon martinis that we’re holding in this picture (which may or may not have contributed to the previous two pictures!)

(Yes, that’s fried bacon around the rim being held on by maple syrup. You all probably think that this is all that’s wrong and terrible about the world today, but I drank mine proudly. Don’t hate. It was good!)

But something wonderful happened to me when I was at that conference. Something beyond funny photos at fantastic parties and seeing friends or even learning how to become a better blogger and photographer. For whatever reason, I came away inspired to cook. I say “for whatever reason” because there wasn’t much talk about real food. The focus was on things like writing, photography, food styling and community. And for all the food that was there, I hardly ate.

Some of you may know that I have struggled to cook since we moved to New York City. I wrote a post about it a couple months ago, but the long and short of it is that I said I hadn’t been able to find the time or the inspiration. And the idea of spending $40 on groceries to make cookies was too unsettling. But after returning home from Blogher Food, I made the time, took hold of my inspiration, sucked it up and spent the money. I’m embarrassed (but will admit) that I used my oven to bake for the first time since we moved in last March. My husband walked in the door from work with a puzzled, yet exceedingly pleased, expression on his face to see a homemade dinner each night.

Instead of hoping I don’t have to worry about making dinner, I find myself back where I was a year ago when I was making elaborate dinner six or often seven nights a week. Finally, I think I got my groove back. And I’m loving it.