Make Cooking Fun
Friday, July 6th, 2007 by The Cooking Guy Subscribe To Our Feed
Dreaded meal time
Every night when dinner time would roll around, the thought of having to get home from work and prepare a meal my family would eat felt overwhelming. My mind would go blank and my short list of recipes I knew how to cook didn’t seem appealing. I truly hated to cook.
The Change
I knew something had to change because I had a family to feed. I couldn’t continue to feel this way day after day. Weekends meant three meals instead of just two. I knew we couldn’t afford to eat out day after day and I certainly didn’t want my children eating unhealthy food on a daily basis. What bad eating habits would I instilling in my kids?
It seemed like one day I woke up and had a true desire to learn how to cook. Why I don’t know. It could be I was sick of eating the same food over and over or the pit in my stomach on my drive home.
I come from a long line of wonderful cooks especially my mother, but for some reason I did not get her love for cooking until now. As I grew up, my mom spent a lot of time with my sisters and me teaching us how
to cook. Most of my sisters learned her art, but for some reason the passion and skills were not instilled in me until much later in my life.
I had a close friend who always watched the Food Network and was always bringing in new recipes that she found on her favorite cooking show. It never occurred to me to watch a cooking show. Why on earth would I want to watch a boring cooking show? It wasn’t until Thanksgiving time rolled around and I was in charge of bringing the mashed potatoes.
Seems simple right? Well, I didn’t even know how to make mashed potatoes. I knew how to make the instant kind, but who can show up to Thanksgiving dinner with mashers made of potato pearls? I certainly didn’t want to be the talk of the town. I solicited help from my friend on how to make the perfect mashed potatoes.
She started rambling off all the different things I could throw in to add flavor. I thought, okay I want to be able to take a simple dish and turn it into a crowd pleasing masterpiece.
The Pursuit
I began my pursuit and started watching the cooking shows and looking through all of my recipes books. I was instantly addicted. After watching these great cooks whip up a delicious meal day after day, I started to understand the art of cooking. I felt like I had a personal teacher teaching me the secrets behind creating a great dish. I found myself getting on the web to print off recipes and even ventured out to try these new recipes. I can’t say all of them have turned out, but for the most part my family has enjoyed them. I had a ton of tried and true recipes and cookbooks from friends and family, but they were conveniently tucked away in my cupboard where I was sure not to find them. I have since them pulled them out and put them into binders where I look each week for menu ideas.
I have also headed back home for some cooking lessons from my mother. It has been a wonderful way to spend time with her. She loves to share her passion for cooking and is thrilled that I have been able to learn from her.
Master Chef?
I haven’t mastered the more difficult recipes yet, but from all my trial and error, I now have the ability to tweak a recipe by adding or deleting ingredients. The thing I love most is I have learned how to create a wonderful crowd pleasing meal using my own cooking abilities.
What changed for me? It started with a desire to want to learn to cook. Once I had the desire, the rest feel into place. It is no longer a dreaded chore, but an opportunity to be creative, confident and most of all proud of new found abilities.
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