11 April 2008

Cooking

I wondered recently about how much we affect (or is effect?) ourselves by the way we think about things. I know for myself that in any given situation I can be prone to see the negative, but I'm training myself little by little to see the positive things that are going on too - even if they are small. This helps me have a better perspective. So can I convince myself that things are positive that I have thought of as negative?

I use as an example cooking. I'm a decent cook and I'm often called on in our life here especially to fix meals for people or bring a dish to something. Sometimes Dar steps to the plate and will fix something or help chop or get something going for the church dinner. (Hopefully tomorrow he'll help chop things for the crock pot.) He doesn't really like to cook but will do a recipe now and then.

The thing is I don't really like to cook. I can. I do. I like to eat and I like us to live cheaply...so I cook. Sometimes I'm in the mood for a certain food and then I get into making it. And I'm even beginning to have moments where I become my mother and I realize I like the way I make "whatever" better than the restaurant I'm in. How can that be happening already??

But could I convince myself that I like to cook? Is it just perspective? I think maybe it's not so bad but I tire of constantly thinking: what can we have? do we have the ingredients for X? We need to get X for the potluck? etc. What if I only cooked things I really, really wanted to eat? (Part of brain is saying - yeah but the time!) It's the quantity of time that gets me along with wanting something good which takes time to make. Ahh. Plus it's a never ending cycle. I suppose this is why I love leftovers. Food with no financial guilt and no cooking hassles.

5 comments:

  1. I don't think I could convince myself to cook. I'm sure in field you get to cook and entertain a lot. Cooking is a nice skill to have.

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  2. It is nice to hear that someone else doesn't really enjoy cooking! I think that we can convince ourselves to like cooking when we get a bad meal at a restaurant. : )

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  3. Leftovers can be great. I am lazy enough that I'll pass on foods if they have to be heated up and just eat what I can have as-is.

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  4. I have yet to be convinced that I like to cook. I think the more I dwell on not liking to cook--the more I dislike it, so maybe I could change my opinion some if I changed my attitude? I'm sure if I were talking to my kids on the subject that's exactly what I would tell them! :)

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  5. You forget mi hermana!

    Mom used to have a poem on her bulletin board in the kitchen. I can only paraphrase as it was so long ago - But the gist of it was, If dinner isn't fixed, don't complain. I'm not a cook; I like to paint.

    I don't think she's any different now. As with most things the enjoyment comes from seeing those you love enjoy what you did. It always seemed like that was the connection for her.

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