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What's Cooking?



Do you like to cook? I'm not talking about, "Yeah, I make meals for myself in the microwave." No. I mean, do you slave over a hot stove, or put some stuff together and throw it in the oven? This doesn't have to be Paul Prudhomme or Emeril Lagasse level concoctions. But it can't be too simple, either. So then, do you like to cook?

Me, I oscillate. The first time a particular recipe is attempted comes with a mixture of excitement and anxiety. Are all the ingredients accounted for? Will I put them together correctly? Is the recipe truly on top of how long it takes to make and bake? What if I mess it up? What if I make it as directed, but it turns out just 'meh?' Of course, if the finished dish is a good one, then I stress the second time I make it because I'm worried it won't turn out as well as the first occasion.

Some dishes are simply a mess to create. And expensive. They say that dining out will drain your pocketbook, and to eat at home is a good way to eat better and more thriftily. Sometimes, this is true, but it's often difficult to eat better without breaking the bank. Healthier foods seem to cost more. Whenever I've made something at home (like, actually cooked a recipe of some sort), the ingredients at the grocery store have cost nearly as much, or more, than if I'd dined out somewhere.

Then there's a person's cooking demeanor. I envy those who are able to perambulate about the kitchen as though they haven't a care in the world, often times conversing with folks while they do so. All the burners on the stove could be going, and something could be coming to a head in the oven, and these folks are as cool as cucumbers. Not I, dear reader. Though it's gotten better over the years, I'm still a ball of stress when cooking. So it goes.

Perhaps, in another few years, I'll be better at it (the cooking and the stress)?

Comments

  1. My ex-husband is a remarkably good cook, but frequently we would have dinner parties fraught with stress over how long everything would take. He always said he enjoyed the pressure of the timing, but I definitely didn't.

    I enjoy cooking, but I frequently procrastinate until it's questionable whether I will finish making the meal before I need to be somewhere. Breakfast all day, every day, has become my staple, because I've finally mastered the timing to prepare everything to be finished just right, and just at the same time.

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