@nonnymoose6260

1 month ago

Here is a long stream-of-consciousness ramble: I think this is really helpful, because you present something that can be intimidating and confusing in a way that I can understand, and in a relatable way. I actually have a fair bit of psychological intimidation about cooking, since my own mom was so exacting and efficient, and cooked such complicated things. I somehow felt that if I was too clumsy to go as quickly as she did with chopping, or to cut things up as tiny as she did - I go so slowly in comparison, and not cut things up as tiny - I would cut myself if I tried - and seeing you go about the same pace as me in a different video made me feel more comfortable about myself. I recently saw someone make one of my mom's special foods, but SO much simpler! She would wait until the hottest days of summer to make this one batter that then had to sit in our garage (the hottest part of the house) for long enough, and then she would be wondering/hoping that it would come out okay. I saw a man use the same batter - he said all he did was leave it at room temperature overnight. His whole attitude was that the food was super simple to make - that shifted my whole mindset. So now, a food that I thought I would never make, is something I will totally try. So maybe part of it was that my mom was so controlling about her process, and I assumed that without doing that (which I don't/can't) my food would never taste decent to anyone who really "knew" food. Also, my mom really nailed it - like, her food tasted excellent and exactly right every time. I am really not even sure how to tell if my food is good enough - like, I have pretty easy going standards, I can't tell what is much better than something else - I may just see it as a preference? But I might not even totally notice a big difference. So I am kind of cooking blind. And you hear other people going on and on about how GREAT some meal they had tasted because of this, that, or the other. I am going to take your advice and google how to chop different things. I have already printed out a bunch of stuff about various random stuff (like how to not ruin your apple pie, how to store different vegetables, what different onion are best for, etc.) - I've got it all in a binder. I currently cook for myself and my husband...but I do wish I could have the confidence to cook for other people. This will sound SO stupid...but my mind can't wrap around how to make larger quantities of food without simply making each dish multiple times, which seems way too time/energy consuming for me. But I just have my set visuals/methods of this much food in this specific pot...and can't see how to double/triple that - like....would I need bigger pots? Would it be fine in the same pot? It's like common sense stuff like that which I really struggle with. Even baking cookies - could I do two batches in the same oven at once? Well....if it says put it in the middle rack, then I guess I can't fit it all in...but don't people use both racks of the oven at once for other things....? But when you do that, aren't the temperatures different above and below? Does that mean you need to switch them midway? and sometimes you just don't have the time/energy/money to waste making mistakes. I know some level of mistake making is totally part of the process...but I guess my low energy level messes that part up for me. If you are cooking for others, how do you keep all of those things hot? Or how do you reheat if there's no microwave or there's such a quantity of food - do you have to take a small container and reheat in small portions? Do you just reheat everything in the oven....and would that dry stuff out? How do you time it all so that you can get everything safe and available for people to eat all at the same time? Those kinds of basic things that nobody discusses when they ask for volunteers to cook and bring something.... I think one of the reasons I would like to improve my cooking is that it's one easier way for me to contribute to my community - it's something I can do by myself in my own house, something I can control (if I can feel confident enough to feel in control), and then just provide the finished product - for a potluck, for a sick person, etc. Or, if we want to try to have some people over, I can cook them a meal. It's something I can control, alone. Whereas volunteering to do stuff together with people involves all of that social stuff that I so often get wrong - and people can get rather testy or bossy when working on stuff sometimes, I have had people snap at me before for unfair things...basically, if people are in an environment that makes them feel a bit stressed out, I'm an easy target. So I am trying to focus on building skills that I can have more control over on my own, in my home. As for cooking in general, I have health issues and food sensitivities that have pretty much put an end to most convenience foods. So it's definitely a high priority for me 🙂

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