Being back at college now and living in an apartment for the first time, I realize that when it comes to food my life's been pretty easy.

For the past three years, I've been used to living off of the Gustavus cafeteria (which is ranked 10th best). They provided me with breakfast, lunch, dinner as well as the occasional snack.

While I lived at home I cooked sometimes, but what I cooked was usually the same. I'm really good at making spaghetti, tater tot hot dish, and chocolate chip cookies.

For this deficiency I blame no one but myself. My mom tried to get me to cook more, but I never perfected any other dishes. But nonetheless, I was sure that I was more than ready for this new nourishment independence.

When I moved in to my apartment and started really cooking for myself, by myself I grew very envious of my mother's kitchen.

My mom's kitchen is stalked with all sorts of utensils, gadgets, and staple food items that I had taken for granted for 22 years. Never before had I ever had to worry about not being able to make banana bread because I didn't have flour or sugar much less a bread pan.

My roommate and I recently decided that we were going to have chicken with some leftover pasta for dinner, and since I got done with class first I volunteered to cook the chicken breast.

I went to the kitchen to look for the right spices to cook it in and found chili powder and vanilla.

I called my mom in a panic, because I realized that I had no idea how to cook these chicken breasts.

That's the thing I miss the most about mom's kitchen. My mom.

Not only is she a good cook, but most of the time she was right there in the kitchen with me where she could answer all my cooking questions and fix most of my mistakes.

When I called her, she did all that she could to help me over the phone, and the chicken breasts turned out just fine. And from that point on, we both decided my kitchen was in need of a little fattening up and that I needed some more recipes.

I copied some recipes to bring, but there are countless more that I left behind. Mom is in the process of going through her cookbooks to find some no-fail recipes that even I will be able cook.

I know from previous potluck experience that Pine River is busting with great cooks, and now I am going to make a shameless appeal to them. Take pity on this novice in the kitchen and take a moment to jot down your own easy, good to the last drop recipe and send it my way.

Please e-mail it to me at kanders7@gac.edu or drop it off at the Pine River Journal or Lake Country Echo offices.

Thanks everybody. I'm going to go make a sandwich and wait for some recipes.

Note: If you share any recipes with Katie, please send them to tracy.wallin@pineriverjournal.com also to be included in a future issue of the Journal.