I was recently talking with a sister in law who mentioned that she used to bake all the time before kids. She said she even used to bake with one kid. But with three, baking and cooking was a thing of the past. She has three little kids (in fact, we were pregnant at the same time) and although she doesn’t mind a foray into the kitchen–it doesn’t happen that often.
I on the other hand, have just started getting back into the kitchen again after the birth of the twins. Yes, if you read my blogs, you know that my twins are nearly two, but believe me, it takes about that long to get back to normal. You see when the twins were born, my husband and I decided that cooking was something we could do to change our schedule so that life with five kids under the age of 6 would be more manageable. So for the last two years we’ve eaten out or ordered in about once or twice per week. For the last two years my husband has taken on dinner duty at least twice a week. That leaves me with a remaining three nights to throw something together. . .and honestly, on some nights dinner looked ‘thrown together.’
But the twins have turned a corner, entertaining themselves and each other and I no longer have five little feet in the kitchen trying to ‘help’. Gone are the days of take out, instead I have a couple throw together meals always on hand. My husband only does dinner in ‘emergencies’ and although I think my husband is fantastic–I’m frankly thrilled if I don’t see another grilled cheese sandwich again for a long time! And now, at least two or three nights a week I can really cook. Case in point this past week I made stuffed shells. (Recipe to come later.)
But my point is this: cooking for me is almost like a hobby. Some people scrapbook, some people knit, I cook. I have never seen it as a chore or something that simply has to get done to keep the family running.
Not viewing cooking as something that has to be done, frees me experiment. The fare on my table is almost never typical. If my husband has a complaint about my cooking, I suspect that he wishes I’d make some things more than once. But I enjoy it, it’s relaxing for me to put it all together. I will tell you that cooking this way is not terribly efficient–but that’s okay.
If you hate cooking, let me suggest that you experiment a little more and ditch the same old dishes for a week or two. Maybe getting to play with your food will ignite a new passion for cooking you never knew you had!
Need a Recipe? Check out the Winter ’06 Cookbook! (Spring coming soon!)
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