Unbored

You've probably noticed a decline in the frequency of posts over the past couple of months. I've noticed, I've felt guilty, and yet, I didn't have more that I wanted to write or to share. The truth is, I've been bored out of my skull lately with food (and, to be fair, house projects as well). I'm not cooking dishes that excite me or reading recipes that inspire me. I haven't done much food reading, and hardly any of that has made me think, "What if I...instead, and..."

And so, Short & Sweets has languished somewhat, and I've been content to post the occasional muffin cupcake recipe and Weekend Reading. I my real life, I've been knocked over twice since Christmas by very bad colds, interviewed for and won a job I wasn't sure I wanted, and have been immersing myself in The West Wing. I'm finally feeling all the way better, the new position is working out and means I won't be sleep deprived all the time (I hope), and The West Wing is still pretty great and still pretty relevant. And I should probably not fall into it for entire afternoons.

I'm slowly coming out of hibernation, and I hope you'll be patient. I began with Last Night's Dinner. I've started to work my way through a pileup of food and cooking magazines, I'm remembering blogs that inspire me, I'm going back through my archives here and remembering recipes that were so exciting and so delicious that I couldn't wait to share them with you, and I've also been loosely following along with The Kitchn's Cooking Cure. The last item has surprised me. I like going through the steps more than I thought I would, and it's made me think about my meals and plan for them and really look forward to them. So this afternoon, after a morning of Spring cleaning, I'm making a double batch of Romesco Sauce for dinner and leftovers and also Frittata Cups for breakfasts and lunches.

I'm sure others of you out there in cyberspace have had similar phases. What have you done to get over them? What inspires you on a daily or weekly basis to keep cooking? to keep trying new things? to avoid relying on take out? Have any recipes really caught your eye lately and/or turned out really well? Please share them!