500 Word Challenge: Day 14
Day 14 - Write about food.
I have to thank my mother for the fact that we didn’t grow up eating TV dinners or any other frozen dinners all the time. My mother liked to cook, and we always had good meals. Not to say that we didn’t eat hot dogs and beans or frozen fish sticks - we did, but it wasn’t an everyday occurrence. As a kid, I definitely took that for granted and had no idea how much work went into planning, shopping (on a budget), and cooking all those meals. It wasn’t until I moved out on my own that I realized just how much I needed to learn.
My mother had tried to teach me how to do all of that stuff, but I thought that it was stupid and that I would never need it. The funniest moment was when I asked if I could copy all her recipes and create my own recipe cards. The look on her face said it all - I told you so, yet I am so proud of you. Inevitably, I would find myself constantly calling her with questions: “How do I cook this?” “What do you mean by a pinch?” And if she didn’t pick up, I would call my grandmother (on my mother’s side). Eventually, I was able to cook some of my favorite recipes and they actually tasted how I remembered they were supposed to taste. Those were some proud moments. Along with my favorite recipes from my mother, my grandmother (on my dad’s side) also passed on some recipes. Her family is from Sicily (Italy) and my grandfather’s family is from Portugal. So my grandmother taught me how to make spaghetti sauce (Italian) and kale soup (Portuguese). They are two of my favorite recipes, and all my friends love my spaghetti sauce - when I don’t burn it.
Once I had some of the tried-and-true recipes down, I began to explore the wonderful world of Pinterest and pick up a few other recipes that sounded good. I started a recipe blog quite a while ago, but ended up being too busy to keep up with it [Experimental Goodness]. It was really fun to try new recipes and take pictures of how it actually came out. I mostly cook, I am not really a baker. I can make some really good chocolate chip cookies, but other than that, I haven’t had good luck. My grandmother (on my mother’s side) made cakes for a living, but other than practicing making flowers, I was never good at actually making cakes. I prefer to make meals: meat, potatoes/rice, and vegetables. Since it is just me, I usually end up eating whatever I make for a whole week. This doesn’t usually bother me, but I have tried to spend a weekend making a bunch of things and sticking them in the freezer so I can choose. This is extremely convenient since I am constantly on the go during the day for work.
I love eating, and though I love to cook, it is a lot of hard work. I think it is mostly the clean-up that bothers me the most. Cleaning dishes has never been my favorite thing to do. But despite all the work and clean-up, sitting down to a good meal that you prepared yourself is very rewarding.
WC: 560