I’m a Good Cook When I Have the Right Guests

This is not an article about food and cooking.

How often do you make good food for yourself, and others? (Video by
Benoît Prieur from Wikimedia Commons Public Domain)

I am a good cook typically. I love the smell of fire and sizzling food. Give me a spacious stove and a cast iron wok, pass me a handful of mushrooms, two eggs, some green onions and basic seasonings, and Imma make your mouth drool.

I adore all of that, both the cooking experience and the taste of the final product, except for one thing: a room full of dull and unappreciative guests. You know, those that take all for granted, eat them all like fast food, and move on straight to something else of higher priority, usually with a sight of leftovers on their plates.

Normally, I can have all the food for myself at least, sharing food with unappreciative guests is like wasting all that time, nutrients, and calories down the drain. Honestly, I get why fast food has a huge market, it may have more to do with the cook than the customers I fear. You know, at times, even I feel a spontaneous urge to discourage myself from cooking good food, the unnamed guests in my gut have voted to consume something quick and cheap, or microwave some frozen orange goo, albeit in a non-human language I do not comprehend.

Poor guest -> poor cook -> poor food -> poor mood, an infinite loop, right?