Life Lessons: Learning how to cook
When put in a position where you are forced to do one thing or another, it’s amazing how quickly we realize what we are capable of.
I’ve never been much of a cook. One of my best friend’s will never let me live down the time that I forgot to turn the oven on while baking cookies, and on the rare occasion that the smoke alarm didn’t go off in my ex-boyfriend’s apartment when I was in his kitchen, we’d all speculate if perhaps the batteries were dead. The ongoing joke among my family and friends has been that if I cooked something, it was best to just steer clear of the dish.
But all of that has been changing, and changing very recently. Sure, sometimes I still drop whole pumpkins on the floor when I’m trying to roast them, and boiling over a pot of soup on the stove isn’t exactly unheard of, but all the practice I’m getting from cooking for myself is starting to pay off. Or rather, the practice I’m getting from cooking for other people.
I love having people over at my apartment. Social gatherings of any kind are always welcome, and social gatherings generally imply some sort of food. Considering that a lot of my friends are truly fantastic cooks (my crackers are rivaled by whole turkey Christmas dinners or whipping up batches of granola bars), it makes me really want to present a decent spread so that everyone can enjoy my cooking and not run away from it. And to be honest, cooking for one person can be a downer. It’s not that exciting when other people aren’t there to appreciate it.
Sometimes we learn best by being put in situations beyond our control. We just have to go ahead and do it, because there isn’t anyone else to do it for us, and because we want other people to have a good time so that they’ll keep coming back! We’re inspired to do well when other people are watching us. Even if we think we don’t enjoy a task, if we absolutely must do it or if we are doing it for someone else, we can learn to really begin to love it. It’s hard to believe that years ago, I hated cooking (probably, looking back on it, it was because I was so bad at it). But with practice, with experience, we can learn to love it.
I think we are forced into things a lot more than we think. A few of the classes I have taken in university were mandatory for my degree and which I was not interested in the least, or they were courses chosen on a whim because they seemed vaguely interesting and fit my schedule, but after taking them, it occurred to me that what I was learning in those particular classes was exactly what I love best. Taking a Professional Style and Editing class led me to want to go into editing; taking Nutrition for Health and Wellness really opened the doors for me health-wise.
All of these little choices we make in life can alter our path considerably. Just because we’re being forced into doing something doesn’t make it such a bad thing- if we want to, we can take a look at it from a new angle, see it as a challenge, and learn something new about ourselves. What have you been forced into doing that you wound up enjoying a considerable amount?
AHH…I love this post Sagan…you always have the greatest topics!
There is SOOO much on this list for me! I think one huge thing was moving to Europe, which I WAS DYING to do, but some of the things I experienced here were not what was expected, which FORCEd me to find another route..amazing experienced gained and I look forward to more!
~rupal
All of these little choices we make in life can alter our path considerably.
I adore that line and entirely agree,
so often it is the seemingly TINY choices we make which serve to alter our path (with hindsight) tremendously.
You are so talented, Girl.
Great post! I’ve had the luxury of not having been “pushed” very often in the last few years… but I’m not sure I’ve grown as much either as when there were more things I “had” to do.
Next step, on the path to adulthood, will be to push MYSELF more. And I’m hoping to be fully grown up by the time I’m 80!
Well said, Sagan, as always – I believe that we all must go through things we don’t like necessarily, to then ENJOY more in life.
I came to cooking rather late in life (i.e. college) and managed to just sort of scrape by for years on foods that needed minimal processing. But recently I’ve been putting an effort into learning this life skill better. It’s healthier, it’s cheaper and, it’s a good example for my kids. Kudos to you for figuring this out sooner than I did!
“All of these little choices we make in life can alter our path considerably.” Well stated Sagan!
What a great post! Like you, I abhored cooking all through college and right out of college. I looked at it as something I HAD to do; and it was much easier to microwave frozen dinners! Now I’m really learning to appreciate it, enjoy it, and have fun and get a little creative with it.
I was also “forced” into swimming while I couldn’t run. Even though running is still my no. 1, I’ve ACTUALLY grown to like swimming! It’s amazing…I never would have thought that was possible.
Wonderful post! While I love to cook, it’s been a challenge learning how to cook the right foods for my weight loss. I have learned that this is something I need to do to get to my goal. I also forced my self into a walking program at the start of my journey & now the day doesn’t seem complete without it. Thanks for the reminder about choices we make!
By the way I liked you latest post about cooking. I consider myself a good and creative cook, I also think there is a difference b/w cooking for yourself (I am my own worst critic) and cooking for others. Yes, it does take a lot of practice and trial and error, but that’s the fun part. Unless you live with Gordon Ramsey, improvement comes from passion, education and perseverance (and getting our of your comfort zone).
Great post, Sagan. I too was forced into cooking when I became a vegetarian in a meat-eating household. As much as I love spaghetti and grilled cheese, these foods got way old, and way bad for me, real fast. I also find the most rewarding part of cooking to be cooking for others, and that’s when I learned how “joyful” cooking can be. Now I’m a food addict, though I still like spaghetti and grilled cheese from time to time. =)
Love this post,Sagan! LOVE IT! One of the best lessons I learned in Corporate America was that you don’t get better at something by NOT doing it. My greatest fear used to be public speaking, but I kept working on it and now I teach classes and lead large meetings. And I *love* it!
Rupal- moving to Europe had a huge impact on me, too. I don’t know if I’d ever have gotten out of my shell if that move hadn’t been made!
MizFit- all about the tiny! And sorry for hijacking the comments by writing nearly an entire post in your comments today. And every day. There’s so much to discuss 🙂
Crabby- hehe. I’m giving myself until about 90 to grow up 😉
VeggieGirl- exactly: we appreciate it more so.
Charlotte- tastes better too. Can’t forget that one!
Mark & Holly- I love seeing how much CHANGE we go through in life.
Dadivastreet- mmmm walking *swoons*. Such a good point about eating the RIGHT foods.
Nicholas- well said!
Monica- a girl just can’t go wrong with grilled cheese.
Cammy- I admire you from afar!
Absolutely!! Changing our perspective on an experience can make all the difference. I look at cooking as an artistic adventure. I go for pretty over taste, but as I got more experience the tastes got prettier also!
This was a great post. I liked cooking in college, but felt that I couldn’t do it/wasn’t good at it. That changed the summer after college. My mom agreed to let me stay at home free of rent for the summer until I could move to my new apartment in LA, on the condition that I became her personal chef and housekeeper for the summer to earn my keep. I thought this was a pretty great deal. I got to walk to the local grocery store every day, check out what was fresh, and experiment with cooking different things. It really got my confidence up and now I love cooking.
This is like the butterfly effect where every experience and action will alter our perspective in the future. The real way to learn anything is to fail at it and then fix where you failed. Your family ribbing about your meals may have just motivated you enough to make sure you stuck to this. Nice post Sagan.
Great post. I have so many friends that are such wonderful cooks that I feel I could never measure up…that’s why I don’t try! I know I need to push myself and perhaps take a cooking class.
I just foudn your blog and I really enjoy it. I’ll have my lunch while browsing it, it makes lunch-in-the-office much more enjoyable! I like your phylosophy and enjoy your writing style. Thanks 🙂
Dr. J- oh I like that, “artistic adventure”.
Hil- that IS a good deal. You must have learned heaps about cooking from that experience!
Tom- I think you’re exactly right. And once we’ve got some constructive criticism under our belt, we know where we went wrong and how we can improve it next time.
Missicat- a cooking class would be so good. You should definitely do it!
Marta- so glad you stopped by to read 🙂
Wonderful post, Sagan! I enjoy reading about your learning experiences. Cooking for large gatherings is one of my favourite things to do. Hmmm, Easter is next weekend – what are you cooking?
hmmm, you’ve got me think’n. It is interesting how little choices every day along with forced changes every now and then bring new “discoveries”. I think that’s what makes life so interesting, funny, disappointing, and inspiring all at the same time.
I seem to recall watching you make some kind of whole wheat tortillas or something…rolling them out on your mother’s counter top…come on, you sell yourself short. All this to say, I think you are an adventurer (is that a real word?) and you challenge each and everyone of us in the things you take on….I would love for you to cook a meal for me any day, and if it fell on the floor…we would just clean it up and start again!
awesome post. I recently was forced into taking a yoga class and really ended up enjoying it. sometimes the things we don’t want to necessarily do are the most enjoyable.
Bag Lady- Passover comes before Easter! Though I’m not Jewish. But am hosting anyways. Should be a fun and enlightening occasion indeed 😀 Love the holidays, am excited.
Jolene- discoveries, yes, for sure- and isn’t that just what both of our blogs are all about!
Rebecca- aww thanks 🙂 I need you to teach me how to pickle stuff at some point. That looks like it would be an excellent adventure.
Kristisummer- absolutely. Glad you liked the yoga! I haven’t managed to get in the habit of doing it regularly but it’s so enjoyable every time that I DO get around to doing it.
The snarkist in me is thinking “That’s what SHE said.”
The thing that comes to mind is running outside. I joined boxing club with a friend. We were told we’d run around this huge hill 5 times with all these hot, ripped guys. I was almost in tears because I cannot run. But I refused to pussy out. So I grit my teeth and did it. Much to my surprise, my personal fitness had increased a LOT. It was a hard run…considering I’d never run outside like that before…but I did it, and felt GREAT afterwards.
Of course, I also remember the time a nurse forced me to take Tylenol cherry chewables, after I told her that they would not stay down. She disagreed. I chewed and swallowed…and promptly puked all over her. Best revenge ever.
This is absolutely the case. My lifelong affair with Martial Arts started with the necessity of learning to defend myself. One of my best friends was a martial artist and insisted I at least try a few classes to learn the basics of defending myself.
Every journey begins with a single step, and sometimes that step is a stumble because we were pushed in a certain direction.
Great post! ^_^
wow, great post! it’s easy to overlook and quickly get over the little things. i need to get more reflection in my life to appreciate the road I have travelled
I knew the philosopher would come out.