Before I get going on my rant for the week, which really isn't a rant but more of an announcement, I want to take time to remember, thank and remind.
Yesterday marked the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Every generation has their "you will always remember where you were" moment/event, and for The Zone generation, 9-11 will be that event for our lifetime.
I was in my 9 a.m. broadcast journalism class. I remember driving to class and hearing on the radio that a plane crashed in to one of the towers. I can't lie, my first reaction was, "What idiot flew into the World Trade Center?" But by the time I made my way in to the classroom, I realized it was a much graver situation.
That day, our lives changed forever. The Ohio University campus shut down, students were in shock, professors were in a similar daze, and no one knew what was going to happen next.
Sept. 11, 2001, is a day no one will ever forget. To all the firemen, police and rescue crews in New York City, to all of the brave soldiers who have fought the battle since that fateful day, I say thank you. What so many people sacrificed will never be forgotten.
Now with that said, I'm very excited to tell everyone my newfound skill. I always thought I possessed it, but little did I know that I could be good at this. But it turns out, I am.
Ladies and gentlemen, I can cook. And I'm not too shabby.
My cooking abilities surfaced last week when I decided to start Weight Watchers once again. And I've actually been staying on it pretty well. And when you are dieting, watching what you eat, or trying to make sure that what you put in your body is better than Taco Bell and mozzarella sticks, cooking is necessary.
So I looked up some recipes. Simple ones, of course, to start out with. But in the first two weeks of my cooking adventure, I haven't made myself sick, and I've even made a few dishes that would make people go, "Yuuummmm."
Why does my new found cooking abilities surprise me? Because honestly, I've never tried it before.
Until last week, my cooking skills were limited to microwave dishes, spaghetti and your occasional grilled cheese. But after my first dish of a low-fat Mexican casserole turned out to be scrumptious, it very much excited me that I liked cooking, and was even pretty good at it.
Now by no means am I combining random ingredients and turning it into fine cuisine. But if you give me a recipe, by gosh, I can rock it out.
So now what I ask of my Zone readers is to help me expand my cooking horizons and send me some recipes. Apparently, I'm going to be one of the next Tribune Cooks, and I don't think my three recipes of Mexican casserole, buffalo quesadillas and big salads (not two small salads, one big salad), is going to really generate a lot of readership.
If you have recipes, especially ones that are made for dieting/calorie-fat counting people like myself, please e-mail them to me at dsulonen@tribtoday.com or find me on Facebook under "Dana's Daze."
Who knows? I could be the next Food Network star! Watch out Rachael Ray, Dana Sulonen is coming after you.