Top Chef contestant?

Who knew that when I moved to Shanghai I would have the skills to try out for Top Chef upon return! I have not applied, no, but it would be fun. I love to cook and you do have to be creative. I was seriously saved today - as I was going to make ricotta cheese. Don't ask me what possessed me to look that up, but I did, and you can! Luckily, the store I was in today had it, so I can save my culinary experiment for next time. I also am going to make some bread next week...note - havent done this yet, but I will and will post a pic of my final product. I have made croutons, birthday cake for C and soon one for D as her bday is in April. I have also made pancakes and brownies from scratch- which I never do, and been quite creative with some of my other ingredients. I made the mistake of figuring out how much we spend on milk. Yes, we have milk again - its UHT in boxes. We use about 2 boxes a day, give or take. We spend $5/DAY. yes per day! on milk! gack!!! That is crazy. There is some local milk that is cheaper but not that much cheaper and it tastes yuch. So, what are you going to do? We aren't going to buy a cow to milk! Anyway, C will be glad, lasagna for dinner, and I am glad, as it was much easier than I was anticipating!!!