Origins, or What the heck?

 Okay, it’s time to celebrate.  I have, after much talk and little action, finally started my food blog.

What this blog is NOT:  It is not a vegetarian blog.  It never will be.  Because I like meat. Especially red meat. 
What this blog is:  It is a place where I can ramble on about food I have eaten and recipes I have tried.  I may or may not wax philosophical about cooking and eating.  I may or may not wax sentimental over things like comfort food, and restaurants I like.  I will document both successes and failures at trying new recipes. 
What (who) inspired this blog: A few things (people) actually.  First, my friend Ann, who introduced me not only to her fun and quirky personal blog, but also to blogs/websites such as The Pioneer Woman and Mel’s Kitchen Café. Second, one of the girls in my church’s youth group, a fourteen (fifteen?) year old girl who got so sick of being teased by her family about not being able to cook that she decided to prove them wrong—and document it in her own food blog.  Third, I like to write and I like food.  So why not combine the two?

Now, what’s with the name? And the hunky picture of Hugh Jackman?  Here’s the thing.  Ann, the friend I mentioned above, once posted a comment on Facebook about a movie she had recently seen called The Women.  Apparently the movie lacked any major male roles, which led her to ask “Where’s the beef?”  Then, later that week, she and I got talking about the movie Australia, starring Hugh Jackman.  Somehow, Hugh Jackman got associated with beef—whether because of his role in the movie as a cattle drover or his chiseled, muscular body, I won’t say.  At any rate, my husband caught on to the Hugh Jackman/beef connotation and it’s become something of a running joke.  Any movie with an uber-masculine star is referred to at our house now, as “beef.”  And, finally, because I am not one of those wimpy “just-a-salad-or-maybe-the-grilled-chicken” kind of girls, any hearty meal is also referred to as “beef.” Whether actual beef is involved is irrelevant.  So there you go.