Faking It

Women need to l earn to fake it--with cooking that is. I don't know any women my age who can cook or even attempt to pretend they can cook. I think most women don't realize how much men LOVE a good cook. The thing is, you don't really have to know how to cook to LOOK like you kind of know how to cook. You can fake it.

For a nice summer meal- Buy fresh cut up fruit at your local grocery (Whole Foods has terrific fruit) slice a nice french baguette, and put out a wedge of brie and another nice cheese with some Triscut roasted garlic crackers. Enjoy with a nice chardonnay. Even better? Take it to the lake or park for a nice romantic picnic.

Slice and bake cookies- Next time he comes over, have some slice and bake chocolate chip cookies in the oven. Smile and say, "I baked you some cookies." Bat your eyelashes while your at it.

Marie Calendar's frozen fettucini alfredo (cook it first) served along side some rotisseri chicken and a nice salad makes for a nice meal. For a salad try bagged mixed greens, chopped pecans (found on the baking aisle), crumbled bleu cheese (try idaho bleu or gorgonzola), grape tomatoes, and Marie's brand rasberry vinagerette or balsamic vinagerette.

How about a salad for dinner? Go to your local organic or fancy grocer. Buy a bag of mixed baby greens or a bag of italian style salad. Add a nice handful of sliced pepperoni (which you can buy pre-sliced in the lunch meat section) buy a ball of fresh mozzerella or a package of mini mozzerella balls. Chop into bite sized pieces and add to salad. Chop one can of artichoke hearts packed in water (drain them first) add some chopped olives from the olive bar (or buy canned.) You can even add some sundreid tomatoes. Serve with Marie's brand creamy italian or a good balsamic vinagarette. For bread, Peperidge farms frozen garlic toast is great. Cook according to pkg. directions. You could also do this salad as a cold pasta salad. Cook a pkg. of rotini (1 lb) according to pkg directions. Add everything minus the lettuce. Toss in some dressing until it reaches a nice consistancy. Salt and pepper to taste.

Kraft makes a great bacon ranch pasta salad in a box. You could add some shredded or cubed chicken and have a meal from that. Some cubed ham might be good as well.

These are all pretty much cold meals. Those are the easiest to fake. For hot meals You can buy all kinds of pre-marinated chicken and fish these days in the meat section, pop it on the George Forman, add a veggie or two and there you have it. I see bagged raw veggies in my produce section all of the time. You just peal off a sticker from the bag and put it in the microwave for 5 minutes. Add salt, pepper, and a tbsp. of butter and you have an easy veggie side. The frozen versions of these veggies are good too. I use them all of the time.

For another hot meal, try nachos. Buy on the Border or another good brand of tortilla chips. Transfer a can of drained black beans or refried beans to a bowl and heat in microwave. Put your chips on a foil l ined baking sheet. Top with beans. Slice a block of colby jack cheese into slices appropriate for nachos. Bake the nachos for 10-15 minutes on 350 until cheese is melted. Serve with a good campfire roased salsa, sour cream, sliced jalapenos, and avo guacamole. If you want to really kick it up, add some fajita meat. You can buy it frozen or precooked in the meat section. I buy it raw and just pop it on the grill for 7 minutes on each side. I let it rest and slice it. YUMMY!!!!

There are some terrific family sized frozen lasagnas out there. Stoffer's is a classic. Marie Calendars is good too. Serve with a bagged salad and frozen garlic bread and there you go!!!

I've heard the New Bertolli frozen meals are good (pricey but good.) One of those served with a salad would make a nice gormet style meal.