Food adventure in 2008

The last month or so of 2007 was something of a food rut in our house. There wasn't a lot new coming onto the table, and my regular recipes, which used to be greeted with enthusiasm by the two freakishly adventurous young eaters in our home, were met with bland acceptance.

The little ones have been gone for a week. That's given me plenty of time to explore some new recipe ideas and make plans to introduce at least one totally new dish once a week. It's an effort to stir the pot, I suppose.

The spousal unit meets this with skepticism and says it will probably last right up until the first swing of baseball season.

We'll see. One of my favorite TV chefs -- Jamie Oliver -- is coming back to Food Network, although I suppose they're not hoping to reach many working people by having him on at 8:30 in the morning.