It's like a pressure cooker, only not at all...
If you know me alot, you know that I love to cook. I enjoy being in the kitchen, armed with a recipe which I fully plan on not following along with the knowlege that most of the people that I am cooking for are so grateful to have food cooked for them, that in general, they'll eat, and appreciate, crap. See, no pressure. That's how I roll. I can handle the pressure of cooking in a specific time (though I don't generally follow time constraints that are set - I take my time), and I can handle being 'creative' with my food. I just don't want anyone having high expectations on my cooking. I can't handle that extra bit of pressure.
This is the reason that I am always scared of cooking for my father. My father is a difficult man to please, especially when it comes to food, and he's honest. Brutally honest in a way that I envy (I try to be honest like that sometimes, but for some reason, it works great with my father, and I just come off as being horribly mean and angry/bitter), he will let me know if it's too hot, too salty, undercooked, overcooked, what have you. For that reason, he's my favorite and least person to cook for. A compliment from my father means so much to me, but my fear of his disappointment (or, if mom is around, a shoulder shrug and a 'it's not bad, no it's fine' rating) makes it hard for me to take a risk and put something infront of him. The primary exception to this is when I am cooking something that I have made often and recently, and consequently know well. It certainly doesn't hurt that I know my father's tastes either :)
I just got done watching 'The Next Iron Chef', which was won by the Clevelander, Iron Chef Michael Symon, which, by the way, thrilled me. In the eternal words of The Rock, 'Finally, a Champion has come Back to Cleveland!' Just all sorts of excitement. Anyhow, that's not the point. The point is, when people find out about my passion for food (I mean aside from eating it. Any moron with eyes can see that I love eating :)), they always ask why I don't pursue that as a career. I generally tell them that I can't do anything like that without massively disappointing my father. This is only partially true though - I feel like becoming a Chef would be awesome, but I don't have that remarkable ability to make food for people with a broad variety of palates. I can make middle-eastern food with a twist, and I can make other stuff spicy. But when it comes to complicated dishes, involving foods I don't know that well, I am more of a novice than most moms. But, it is nice to think about every now and again :).
Anyhow, listen, if you're in town and want a home cooked meal that could fall anywhere on the scale from fabulous to gag, hit me up. I'm always happy to indulge.
This is the reason that I am always scared of cooking for my father. My father is a difficult man to please, especially when it comes to food, and he's honest. Brutally honest in a way that I envy (I try to be honest like that sometimes, but for some reason, it works great with my father, and I just come off as being horribly mean and angry/bitter), he will let me know if it's too hot, too salty, undercooked, overcooked, what have you. For that reason, he's my favorite and least person to cook for. A compliment from my father means so much to me, but my fear of his disappointment (or, if mom is around, a shoulder shrug and a 'it's not bad, no it's fine' rating) makes it hard for me to take a risk and put something infront of him. The primary exception to this is when I am cooking something that I have made often and recently, and consequently know well. It certainly doesn't hurt that I know my father's tastes either :)
I just got done watching 'The Next Iron Chef', which was won by the Clevelander, Iron Chef Michael Symon, which, by the way, thrilled me. In the eternal words of The Rock, 'Finally, a Champion has come Back to Cleveland!' Just all sorts of excitement. Anyhow, that's not the point. The point is, when people find out about my passion for food (I mean aside from eating it. Any moron with eyes can see that I love eating :)), they always ask why I don't pursue that as a career. I generally tell them that I can't do anything like that without massively disappointing my father. This is only partially true though - I feel like becoming a Chef would be awesome, but I don't have that remarkable ability to make food for people with a broad variety of palates. I can make middle-eastern food with a twist, and I can make other stuff spicy. But when it comes to complicated dishes, involving foods I don't know that well, I am more of a novice than most moms. But, it is nice to think about every now and again :).
Anyhow, listen, if you're in town and want a home cooked meal that could fall anywhere on the scale from fabulous to gag, hit me up. I'm always happy to indulge.