When my hands are idle, my mind is busy. But when my hands are busy, I can find a way to quiet my mind. Baking and cooking are one of the ways I do that. Now it's one of my signature hobbies and skills, but it wasn't always that way. I know for some people that's seems very weird, but in fact, about ten years ago I blogged about the very short list of recipes in my repertoire.
Since then my cookbook collection has more than quadrupled, I eat at home or cook for myself like 6 days a week (even before social distancing), I handmake pasta, I've made my own ice cream, fried donuts from scratch, made my own marshmallows, mix up my own brown sugar, make General Tzo's and chicken parm from memory, bake my own handcut french fries for weeknight snacks, and my KitchenAid mixer has its own permanent place on my counter.
It's been interesting to see so many people turn to cooking and baking as a way to avoid grocery stores, restaurants, and simply because they have to in our new reality.. I'm glad I've got this comfort to fall back on when I need it the most.
This last week I've tried to take time to put together a lunch and then walk away from my computer, my phone and my work for a while. Whether it's heating up leftovers, which I have more of now that I'm just feeding myself and not my coworkers, or pulling together odds and ends before they go bad, lunch is usually a simple meal. Dinner is where I spend the time really making something. I've made BBQ chicken pizza, kadhi (Indian yogurt and tumeric soup), beef and broccoli stirfry, and roasted veggies. I've also been baking in the evenings. I've made some gorgeous biscuits, foccacia, pumpernickel bread, and just tonight I baked homemade nutter butters. I've been trying to feed myself body and soul. Baking with recipes to keep my mind busy. And cooking instinctively without them to keep my hands busy. I think tomorrow I try again to make a sourdough starter. Maybe this time I can keep it alive. So far, my cilantro and basil still are. That in itself is a miracle.
And maybe, just maybe by the end of all this, I'll know how to cook for one person instead of four. But then again maybe not, keeping my coworkers fed really is too much fun.
We’d been eating more at home before all of this happened because it’s cheaper and we can control what goes in our food. Sometimes working full time and being a mom, cooking just felt like just another task on my to-do list that kept me from having some much needed me time. I’m realizing that I can have more fun exploring new recipes and make it something I look forward to trying. It’s definitely an attitude shift. Partly, when I cook, I felt like it was time away from my family, but now that we have the toddler tower in our kitchen, it makes involving V easier. She still doesn’t understand that I can’t pick her up and chop things with a big knife at the same time, but she loves checking out what’s happening.
ReplyDeleteIt was nice reading your blog again. I look forward to the next one.