(no subject)
Since popfiend won the first round of LJ Idol voting by a landslide, he won the reward of choosing this week's topic. Since he likes to dwell on the positive rather than the negativity that many people seem to wallow in, this week's topic is: I'm Super, Thanks for Asking! I am to pump up my positive attributes. Alrighty then, here goes:
I really have two talents that I’d like to shout about, cooking and sewing.
First of all, let's discuss cooking. This is not an entirely inherited talent. My mother was a horrible cook. Her idea of macaroni and cheese was rubbery noodles with clumps of grated cheese mixed in. No sauce, just bland noodles and an occasional hint of cheese. My Grandmother, however, was an amazing cook. I spent much of my childhood shadowing her around the kitchen and pretending to cook like she did. When she baked pies, she would let me use an old pot pie tin and make a small pie of my own while helping her make the regular pies. She taught me to be adventurous with food and to not always worry about precise measurements.
Because of her, I am able to adjust recipes and make sauces by dumping, tasting and adjusting. For example, when I make a stir-fry (which is quite often) I sometimes start with a bottled or jarred sauce mix but am rarely satisfied with it's taste so I am always adding different ingredients to change the flavor notes (sweet, hot, savory, etc.). I am also often substituting ingredients in recipes due to my aversion to the original choice or lack of availability. This has led to some wonderful dishes including a fantastic Stroganoff using various meats and lots of smoked paprika. I often feel like food is my canvas and that the spices and ingredients are my paints. I really enjoy expressing myself through my cooking and hope that those of you who are fortunate enough to try my work enjoy it as well.
Now before I go, I will also touch on sewing. I bring this up in conjunction with cooking because although my mother was a terrible cook, she was an expert sewer. She used patterns as vague guidelines and always made numerous alterations to them in order to make them come out as she felt they should. I remember the horror of my Home Ec. teacher when I brought in a pattern she had used to make something for myself. She was shocked that mom didn't use notches or dots or any of the guidelines given on the pattern. Myself, I am a lot like my mother in that same way except I almost never use patterns in the first place. I have the ability to look at most any item of clothing and be able to recreate it to fit whomever it needs to just from knowing their measurements. However, my seams may not always be 100% straight but then they usually aren't visible and so therefore it doesn't matter. This ability came in very handy at Christmas as my nephew wanted his very own Jedi robes. Since I had made some for adults, and they do not make child-size patterns for them, I was able to take a few of his measurements and adjust down the size of the adult robes to make him some and they fit him perfectly.
So yea me and my mad sewing and cooking skills! I have great abilities and can use them in such a way to make unique and wonderful items. May you all someday get to benefit from these abilities.
TTFN!
I really have two talents that I’d like to shout about, cooking and sewing.
First of all, let's discuss cooking. This is not an entirely inherited talent. My mother was a horrible cook. Her idea of macaroni and cheese was rubbery noodles with clumps of grated cheese mixed in. No sauce, just bland noodles and an occasional hint of cheese. My Grandmother, however, was an amazing cook. I spent much of my childhood shadowing her around the kitchen and pretending to cook like she did. When she baked pies, she would let me use an old pot pie tin and make a small pie of my own while helping her make the regular pies. She taught me to be adventurous with food and to not always worry about precise measurements.
Because of her, I am able to adjust recipes and make sauces by dumping, tasting and adjusting. For example, when I make a stir-fry (which is quite often) I sometimes start with a bottled or jarred sauce mix but am rarely satisfied with it's taste so I am always adding different ingredients to change the flavor notes (sweet, hot, savory, etc.). I am also often substituting ingredients in recipes due to my aversion to the original choice or lack of availability. This has led to some wonderful dishes including a fantastic Stroganoff using various meats and lots of smoked paprika. I often feel like food is my canvas and that the spices and ingredients are my paints. I really enjoy expressing myself through my cooking and hope that those of you who are fortunate enough to try my work enjoy it as well.
Now before I go, I will also touch on sewing. I bring this up in conjunction with cooking because although my mother was a terrible cook, she was an expert sewer. She used patterns as vague guidelines and always made numerous alterations to them in order to make them come out as she felt they should. I remember the horror of my Home Ec. teacher when I brought in a pattern she had used to make something for myself. She was shocked that mom didn't use notches or dots or any of the guidelines given on the pattern. Myself, I am a lot like my mother in that same way except I almost never use patterns in the first place. I have the ability to look at most any item of clothing and be able to recreate it to fit whomever it needs to just from knowing their measurements. However, my seams may not always be 100% straight but then they usually aren't visible and so therefore it doesn't matter. This ability came in very handy at Christmas as my nephew wanted his very own Jedi robes. Since I had made some for adults, and they do not make child-size patterns for them, I was able to take a few of his measurements and adjust down the size of the adult robes to make him some and they fit him perfectly.
So yea me and my mad sewing and cooking skills! I have great abilities and can use them in such a way to make unique and wonderful items. May you all someday get to benefit from these abilities.
TTFN!