Whether you
love cooking or not, it is a part of your life that will likely never go away
so you may as well embrace it to some degree. Food is life, so I want to give
you some ideas to make it fun by approaching it in a different manner. What I
am going to suggest may scare you at first but bear with me.
Too often
we rely on pre-made foods that we would never dream of attempting to make from
scratch and I want you to drum up the courage to challenge yourself by making
something that falls in this category. Now, the items that I am talking about
in this range will be vastly different depending on the individual. For
example, a number people always make pancakes from scratch but just as many
probably use a store-bought mix. I know a number of people that make fresh
pasta from scratch, but most have never attempted it.
What I want
you to do is to step out of your comfort zone, whatever that may be, and make
something in the kitchen that you have never done before. I suggest this as
part of a healing or growing process to bring you to the next level. Why you
may ask? It is all about making life exciting and trying new things. Chances
are you have a kitchen in your home and a necessary desire to eat food to stay
alive, so let’s take it to the next level just for fun. This is important to
remember. I don’t want you to go into this with the mindset of it being a task.
This is not something to stress about; there is no test at the end. It is merely
an adventure into the unknown just for enjoyment only.
With the
internet on our side, and the thousands of food recipes, videos, blogs, etc. to
help us out, there is virtually an answer at our fingertips on how to make
almost anything. Maybe it’s perogies you have always wanted to master? Or how
about the potato pasta dumplings called gnocchi? Maybe you have always wanted
to try to make corned beef from scratch? Or what about beef jerky? The list of
ideas is literally endless based upon your desire and level of cooking you are
at already.
If this still intimidates you then search out local cooking classes in your community. I offer a number of cooking classes throughout the year on a regular basis with a myriad of menu options to choose
from. Live interaction is always the best way of learning because you can ask questions and sometimes even get involved in the cooking process through hands-on classes. Plus this makes for a fun evening out. Consider it instead of going out to a restaurant for dinner - it's probably about the same price and as a bonus you will walk away with knowledge, some new recipes, and confidence. If you are
still feeling uncomfortable with the idea of doing this, then maybe get a
friend or relative to come to a cooking class with you. My current cooking classes are listed here: www.chefdez.com/cookingclasses
Or another idea would be to invite a bunch of people over
for an afternoon of chatting and cooking in your home. If you approach it as an opportunity
to have a good time with loved ones, it will be easier to accomplish without
having the main focus on the task at hand. At the end you can divide the
finished product, and everyone gets to take home a meal and a memory. Who
knows, it may even become a regular tradition among all of you.
If
everything was easy in life, nobody would be unique; we would all be good at
everything. Not only that, but we would never be challenged. Trials and
tribulations in anything helps us to appreciate the good in things we already
know and have, while offering us an opportunity to work towards something new
and embrace the feeling of accomplishment. This can be done in any aspect of
life, not just cooking… but as I always say “food IS life”.
Until next time... Happy Cooking!
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