Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday: that fateful day that begins the slow, sacrificial countdown to Easter. Yesterday I made the trek downtown to church to get my annual forehead smudge and dose of heavy guilt, and I was really contemplating this year's lenten choice. What would I live without for the next forty days? Chocolate? Cheese? Coffee? Meat? These all seemed so-- easy. I racked my brain until it came to me in the middle of mass: This year, instead of giving something up,  why not make an extra effort to do something new everyday? This may not seem like a sacrifice to most of you people, but you must understand that I am extremely lazy, and vowing to do something new for 40 days is a whole lot harder than giving something up. Pathetic? Maybe a little.

So, in an effort to stretch myself every day during these next 40 days, I am going to cook a challenging meal every night (or day). However, I must note that I am a terrible, amateur cook, so pretty much everything besides cereal is a challenge for me.

Of course, being the good Catholic that I am, the guilt would just kill me if I didn't give a little something up. So, as is tradition, all Friday meals in my casa (or attempts) will be meatless.

This blog will serve as my dogmatic diary and also my babysitter: because during Lent, God knows you have to be held accountable. Hopefully I'll have John Paul's humor and faith on my side!

Does anyone have any recipe suggestions? Sage chefly advice? I'm all ears!