I was recently challenged by my neighbor to come up with a goal or purpose for my entries. It’s a good question: why are you cooking through a book and what do you hope for it to lead to?
Well…I don’t expect much from people reading this blog, I’ve always written for myself as kind of a therapeutic outlet. I do want my children to read all my old journals so they know who I am, where I have come from and what I care about most. This kind of blog is different than that though. It’s not about how many people will read, respond, or try cooking. What it MIGHT be is an attempt to express how cooking is tied to emotions, at least for me.
When I make a chocolate cake, I don’t just make a chocolate cake. I make it for some one or some thing. I make the cake one pain-saking, ingredient at a time. Careful to put much effort, precision and love into everything I make, I hope to give that cake, or that roast, or those yummy hamburgers to someone that will love it as much as I loved making it. After I cook, I can’t eat right away because of the differing emotions that were all fluttering around while I skillfully spread the frosting. I can’t eat until someone else has had a bite and is satisfied with the taste. I get nervous cooking for other people. I get excited as they reach for the first bite. I get humble if they tell me how good it is. Then…I get relief when I get to try a bite for myself…which usually comes with a comment of my own critique shortly after (we are our worst critics after all).
So…my hope is that some will read about my cooking, but that others will pick up on the emotions behind cooking. Yet, while others will endeavor to take up cooking for themselves and see what emotions they too can muster up while brazing a turkey!
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