It's About Time!
I've always loved to cook. The flurry of activity found in a kitchen, corporate or home, has always given me a rush of excitement that I can only describe as euphoric. On top of that, it's a huge ego boost to have someone compliment something that so much of my energy (and to a certain extent my soul) has been put into. It's immensely satisfying. It's also something that sadly I haven't been doing very often lately. In fact, I seem to watch food being cooked from scratch on TV more often than I actually cook from scratch myself.
Over the past few years, I've found myself more and more at odds with myself, both personally and professionally. I think that everyone has that period in their lives where they're just plain exhausted for no good reason, and I've hit that wall like the Coyote being hit by an anvil. It's taken a lot for me to say this, but I'm not happy. Actually, that's not the right word. I'm not satisfied. I work a job that pays the bills, but I don't feel like I'm doing anything meaningful. I'm not even engaged when I perform the functions. It's really just going through the motions to get through the day. Luckily, I have a very supportive person in my life who so succinctly pointed out that it's time to return to what makes me happy (albeit this encouragement may also be for slightly selfish reasons since he gets to reap some of the benefits, but more on that later).
With all that being said, I've decided to start cooking again. I know it sounds like this tiny insignificant thing, but given that most of my meals over the past few years have either been prepared by someone else or last minute rushed affairs that I've barely tasted let alone savored bite for bite, it's a pretty big deal. There are bookcases of dusty and long forgotten cookbooks and culinary manifestos in my house that can attest to how long ago I abandoned my passion. I've realized that I had stopped caring about my food, where it comes from and how it was made. I've just been grazing to meet a basic need and nothing more.
I firmly believe that Eric Ripert said it best when he said that, "Cooking is an art... I want to be free to explore mine... I want to explore cooking. I want to return to cooking." For me, I'd say it's about darn time!
Over the past few years, I've found myself more and more at odds with myself, both personally and professionally. I think that everyone has that period in their lives where they're just plain exhausted for no good reason, and I've hit that wall like the Coyote being hit by an anvil. It's taken a lot for me to say this, but I'm not happy. Actually, that's not the right word. I'm not satisfied. I work a job that pays the bills, but I don't feel like I'm doing anything meaningful. I'm not even engaged when I perform the functions. It's really just going through the motions to get through the day. Luckily, I have a very supportive person in my life who so succinctly pointed out that it's time to return to what makes me happy (albeit this encouragement may also be for slightly selfish reasons since he gets to reap some of the benefits, but more on that later).
With all that being said, I've decided to start cooking again. I know it sounds like this tiny insignificant thing, but given that most of my meals over the past few years have either been prepared by someone else or last minute rushed affairs that I've barely tasted let alone savored bite for bite, it's a pretty big deal. There are bookcases of dusty and long forgotten cookbooks and culinary manifestos in my house that can attest to how long ago I abandoned my passion. I've realized that I had stopped caring about my food, where it comes from and how it was made. I've just been grazing to meet a basic need and nothing more.
I firmly believe that Eric Ripert said it best when he said that, "Cooking is an art... I want to be free to explore mine... I want to explore cooking. I want to return to cooking." For me, I'd say it's about darn time!
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