Why I Love Cooking
And why you can love it, too!
I was a teenager living at our family’s home in Mainz, Germany, when I started watching both my mom and dad cook. They would not cook together, mind you. Mom did the everyday cooking of most family meals. Dad cooked Sundays and on special holidays. I loved watching him because he explained things and he was famous for lovely whole chicken dishes.
So, quite early on in my life, I made the kitchen one of my favorite places in our home. We were six children and divided the chores between us. I often volunteered to clean up after dinners. I loved the feeling of hot water and how nice and clean my hands were after washing dishes.
Over the years my interest in cooking grew and I practiced a lot, enhanced my skills, perfected what I was good at, and added more variety to my daily menus. I also found out something about myself not a lot of people share with me.
I love the entire meal process. The planning, the shopping, the prep, the cooking, the wine pairing, the eating, and the cleaning up.
I make plans for dinner in the morning. My thought process is always pretty much the same:
· What’s the main protein?
· Do I want to use something I have in the freezer or should I buy fresh.
· What sides go well with that protein? What sides haven’t I had for a while?
· If I don’t have a recipe ready to go, I’ll google one. Always like new and exciting recipes.
· Late morning I take the dog and drive to the store while organizing some lunch at the same time.
· Around 5/6 pm I pour myself a glass of wine, get all ingredients together, and start chopping and portioning.
· The plates go into the oven warmer, the wine is selected and opened, and the cooking begins.
· I aim to have food on the table by 6:30 pm, 7:00 pm at the latest.
If the food was really outstanding I savor the flavors with a little more wine afterward.
Since I have gotten in the habit of cleaning up all dishes I used during cooking, the only things to clean up now are pots and pans. The plates and the cutlery go into the dishwasher. Boom. Cleanup done.
Can you see how much fun cooking can be? Can you imagine the eyes of whoever else you’re cooking for when they loved what you did? When they smile and empty their plate, that’s the biggest compliment, chef.
Now go and start with a small dish. I bet you’ll love it, too.
