Cooking has always been my passion. I started cooking when I was 8 years old. My parents divorced and my mom went to work. I was a notoriously picky eater, so I learned how to create dishes that I loved with very basic ingredients. While most 8 year olds were mastering the PB&J sandwich, I was experimenting with crepes.
My grandmother was a wonderful cook. Hearty meals that were slow cooked. I mention that because she was always cautioning me not to cook my foods too high. “The world is just in to big of a hurry when it comes to food.” She was right. I accompanied her many times to local butcher where she would meticulously pick her choices of meat. She made the most wonderful rolled roast with roasted carrots, and potatoes. It always amazed me how attention she would give to such simple dishes. She carefully seasoned the meat, browned it and then slow cooked it for hours. Nothing fancy but the most flavorful, tender roast I have ever had. I miss her. She was my personal culinary teacher, as I would call her regularly for advice or recipes.
I was married young and had three boys. I was blessed to be able to stay home with them while they were young. Financially things where tight, but I learned that cooking from scratch could make our money go much further. You wouldn’t find packaged cookies, or processed foods in our house. We were poor but we ate well!
Life changes and eventually I found myself a single mother with three boys who were 11, 9 and 8. I joined the workforce at age 30. My time to cook disappeared as did any extra money. I picked up the book Once a Month cooking, and became a huge fan of freezer cooking. I would spend my Sunday’s cooking and freezing meals. I still had a homemade dinner every night but none of the stress.
Fast forward to today. I am remarried to a wonderful man and my boys are now 19, 17 and 16. After spending most of my life taking care of others, I am finally getting some time for me. There are not many things that feed my soul as much as being in my kitchen and I have decided to expand my culinary repertoire. I love the basic Midwestern staple meals but I’m ready to delve into Indian, Mediterranean, and Italian. The sky’s the limit!
I’m hoping to enroll in some culinary classes, read every cookbook I can get my hands on and master some new cooking skills. Who knows maybe someday I will be able to transfer my cooking skills into a viable career! But even if that doesn’t happen following my passions makes it easier to sit behind my desk at my unfulfilling corporate job.
Congratulations on blogging about your PASSION! I can’t wait to hear more about your fine tastes in food. As a woman, I can certainly relate to your story. Like you, I grew up in a household that was much like a Little House on the Prairie type of home. We grew our own food, canned our own pickles, stews and veggies and made everything from “scratch”. My grandparents taught me all about gardening. My father was the “cook” of the house and taught me all that I know now. Needless to say, we didn’t each out much as kids…pizza and KFC were “treats” (and not much of a treat in my opinion now…looking back on it!).
Like you, I am now returning “home” in a sense with my cooking. Just the other day, I was craving good, old-fashioned cabbage rolls, so I bought the cabbage head, boiled it up and made the best darned cabbage rolls EVER! I tend to make everything from scratch and I really enjoy cooking healthy meals and experimenting with food too. Indian food is also a passion of mine. I also enjoy Thai, Italian, Mexican (real mexican…not just tacos and burritos….) and I also stay true to my roots a little (some Mediterranean, slavic and Scandinavian dishes).
Food is passion. It feeds the soul. It feeds friends. It sustains. It is an art and a means of expression. Now, I am truly happy to have found this passion in you too, and I can’t wait to trek down the foodie trail with you Venus! I know you can do anything you put your mind to too (and if you want to turn cooking into a career, then you should!). Many great catering companies and restaurants started out humbly - with a home-cooked meal…a thought…an idea…and most of all…LOVE!
Thank you so much for the encouragement. I’ve found a local school that I’m going to take some cooking classes from. They have a culinary program that I might enroll in down the road, you never know where the path might take me!