My name is Dee and I’m a
Rookie Cook.
There, I’ve said it. For the world to see. That
felt good.
Until a couple of years back, I had the culinary
skills of a cow. I started to cook because, well, take-out began to get too
expensive and we couldn’t survive forever on toast. I never enjoyed cooking, it
was always a job for me that I wanted to get out of the way as soon as I could.
The first time I actually cooked independently was after my engagement. I ended
up spilling boiling oil on my arms, the still-prominent scar of which haunts me
even today.
My early adventures in the kitchen after marriage
were just as deadly. After a point my colleagues at work stopped questioning my
bandaged fingers. As time passed, the war wounds reduced but in no way did my
love for cooking grow. It was still a cumbersome chore. But one thing did
change, I no longer ordered restaurant food when we had guests but preferred to
make something myself. And though I still hated the part where I had to make a
complete meal, I would revel in the adulation I began to get for my
efforts.
And then one day, a friend invited me to her place
for baking. I went over, hoping to avoid the hot oven but to take in plenty of
hot gossip. We made chocolate chip cupcakes and they were not just delicious but
easy to bake. That weekend I tried out the recipe myself and was amazed by the
result. My husband who never trusted me to make anything more than dal and rice
was also pleasantly surprised.
I can’t say if that incident changed my life but it
sure did help reduce my hatred for the kitchen. Don’t get me wrong, I still find
the cooking process dreary – the chopping, the mixing and mostly the cleaning.
But I have begun to enjoy the end result. After all who doesn’t love well-cooked
food.
My attempt through this blog is to share my cooking
experiences – my triumphs and terrors, with all of you, who like me, don’t
particularly like the kitchen but who do enjoy seeing the spark in their
family’s eyes that only a good home-cooked meal can
bring.
So join me on my adventures as I experiment and
traverse through the enormous world of gastronomical delights.
Coz if I can cook, so can
you!!
