Cooking is a big part of my life; always has been. However it hasn't been until the last few years I've gone out and really bought up big on the kitchen utensils and recipe books to learn to make what I can normally get as takeaway food. Seeing I can't afford to buy a lot of things, and I enjoy cooking in my kitchen, I also love to learn to cook new things.
When I first moved out, I was into the fastest way to make things. But when that fell through as quickly as my food was produced, I started looking through my recipe books I already had and learning how to make stir-fry sauces, learning exactly what to put into those stir-fry meals to make it taste like a takeaway - or better than a takeaway. And I also started questioning where my food came from, how good it was for me and how I could store it to keep it longer.
I found that not everyone was as curious about food as I was. So, Mum bought me a wonderful book about food: 'What Food Is That: And How Good Is It For Me?' (or something long those lines). It's a great reference book on nearly every food possible you'd come across in the shopping aisle and at the veggie market. It tells you how to take care of food once you get it home, what you can cook it with, how to cook it, where it originates from and what the nutritional values it has. I'm amazed at how much this book has in its index about food.
However I didn't stop there. I wanted to know how make different types of food. When Summer came around and it was stinking hot, I asked my American friends for a good Ice Tea recipe and I got one sent to me through the mail. It was wonderful! I loved it and have been making it for almost three years now; and it's so refreshing to have Ice Green Tea in the fridge just sitting there waiting for me to drink. I even made some last year for my niece's birthday and the two jugs I made didn't last 20 minutes on the table!
And this year, I found a vegetarian bible recipe book where the food in it was amazingly delicious-looking... and when I tried out a cannelloni, it looked just like it did in the book! And it tasted just as wonderful! I've perfected the recipe and made it for most of my family and they love it!
Now, I'm onto pizzas... I've bought a book on how to make the base and bought a pizza stone and a proper cutter too. And my first pizza wasn't anything much - as they are with most first-times with most recipes - but the second time, I had a better idea of what it was supposed to look like and be like... so I had a great dough that rose; and rose well!
Yes, I love to cook. I love the mess I make in my kitchen, the amount of flour that gets everywhere, the feeling of accomplishment that comes with serving up something that tastes as delicious as it smells; and then, realising I have to clean up... well, that's a part of cooking! But it's the fun part to see the pots, pans and bowls and spoons all become clean of the food and spices just so I can use them all over again.
This is what the passion of cooking is about for me. It doesn't matter how messy my kitchen becomes, it matters that I love the food I make and others enjoy my meals too. I love how the recipes can be brought back into basic elements and easily broken down into smaller jobs to do.
So, do you enjoy cooking? Or do you find it too much of a chore? My brother always told me that if you call cooking a chore, you've turned your joy into a job... how true that is of anything. Well, until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.
When I first moved out, I was into the fastest way to make things. But when that fell through as quickly as my food was produced, I started looking through my recipe books I already had and learning how to make stir-fry sauces, learning exactly what to put into those stir-fry meals to make it taste like a takeaway - or better than a takeaway. And I also started questioning where my food came from, how good it was for me and how I could store it to keep it longer.
I found that not everyone was as curious about food as I was. So, Mum bought me a wonderful book about food: 'What Food Is That: And How Good Is It For Me?' (or something long those lines). It's a great reference book on nearly every food possible you'd come across in the shopping aisle and at the veggie market. It tells you how to take care of food once you get it home, what you can cook it with, how to cook it, where it originates from and what the nutritional values it has. I'm amazed at how much this book has in its index about food.
However I didn't stop there. I wanted to know how make different types of food. When Summer came around and it was stinking hot, I asked my American friends for a good Ice Tea recipe and I got one sent to me through the mail. It was wonderful! I loved it and have been making it for almost three years now; and it's so refreshing to have Ice Green Tea in the fridge just sitting there waiting for me to drink. I even made some last year for my niece's birthday and the two jugs I made didn't last 20 minutes on the table!
And this year, I found a vegetarian bible recipe book where the food in it was amazingly delicious-looking... and when I tried out a cannelloni, it looked just like it did in the book! And it tasted just as wonderful! I've perfected the recipe and made it for most of my family and they love it!
Now, I'm onto pizzas... I've bought a book on how to make the base and bought a pizza stone and a proper cutter too. And my first pizza wasn't anything much - as they are with most first-times with most recipes - but the second time, I had a better idea of what it was supposed to look like and be like... so I had a great dough that rose; and rose well!
Yes, I love to cook. I love the mess I make in my kitchen, the amount of flour that gets everywhere, the feeling of accomplishment that comes with serving up something that tastes as delicious as it smells; and then, realising I have to clean up... well, that's a part of cooking! But it's the fun part to see the pots, pans and bowls and spoons all become clean of the food and spices just so I can use them all over again.
This is what the passion of cooking is about for me. It doesn't matter how messy my kitchen becomes, it matters that I love the food I make and others enjoy my meals too. I love how the recipes can be brought back into basic elements and easily broken down into smaller jobs to do.
So, do you enjoy cooking? Or do you find it too much of a chore? My brother always told me that if you call cooking a chore, you've turned your joy into a job... how true that is of anything. Well, until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.
Fresh homemade meals is always better then takeaway. Most takeaways intend to have preservatives and additives in their foods which would explain why we have behavioural disorder of kids and various allergies.
ReplyDeleteHow true... and the best part of making your own meals is that you can always change it to what you like halfway through... you can experiment with flavours and enjoy making the mess too.
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