As much as it annoys me sometimes living back at home with my family – the lack of my own space, not being able to get to the washing machine, most of my shoe collection being stuck gathering dust in storage and that kind of thing – I’ve got a pretty cushty set up. My parents don’t expect a lot from me, and as long as I don’t trash the place, my only real chore is cooking dinner for everyone on a Tuesday night.
I really can’t complain about that, because cooking is not a chore to me. In fact, I’d go so far as to call it a hobby. I find something very calming about sticking on some music, pouring a glass of wine and cooking up a delicious meal. I’m not one for recipes – which I think really irks my Dad who has always been the cook in the family – I just love looking up inspiration on the Internet or when I go on holiday and then experimenting to try and recreate the flavours. The sense of accomplishment you feel when you’ve created a dish you’re really proud of is immense, and leaves me feeling very satisfied and competent, which isn’t a feeling I get all that often thanks to a chronic desire to please people. It’s more than just the calming effect or the sense of achievement though. To me cooking is nurturing and feeding, it’s literally loving somebody. When I care about someone, I always want to cook for them, as it’s a way of taking care of them. Cooking just for yourself just isn’t the same – there almost doesn’t seem any point? I’m glad that if anything, I have people to cook for rather than just functionally feeding myself.
So lately I’ve been really enjoying my Tuesday night cooking sesh. So much so that I’ve even started thinking about doing some recipe posts! The only downside is that it’s making me yearn again to have my own kitchen and my own things and my own fridge that I can store whatever I want in. And I really miss doing the food shop. Yes, I’m one of those weird people who loves food shopping. Actually scrap that, it’s not weird – what’s not to love about settling down on the sofa after a big shop knowing you can pretty much eat anything you want? Love it. Anyway, hopefully it won’t be too much longer before all that is everyday life again and I’ll probably think it’s dull as dishwater. Funny how quickly you take things for granted, isn’t it? And in the meantime I can keep on practising!
Love,
Picking the Day 