Skip to main content

Question For Those Who Don't Cook

Why?

I am by no means a great cook, but making something myself, for a quarter of the price that tastes four times better is one of the most rewarding things imaginable.  I started very simple. Making myself breakfast.  I would make simple cheese omelets or something similar and then tried to perfect them.  I won't lie, I watched youtube videos of greats like Jacques Pepin make them and then I tried to do the same.  Now, if comfortable with the heat, I can make the fluffiest omelets, without a hint of brown, that just melt in your mouth.

As time went on, I started to realize what flavors went well and sometimes, even now, I strike out terribly.  That's when you grab your favorite condiments and go to town.  What it also does, is make you appreciate good food, even that which you have relatively often.  Now when I have a burger, I don't drown it in ketchup, because I want to experience the melding of the perfectly seared beef and the melted cheese (bleu almost always).  It creates its own sauce and is delightful.

Today, after having two bagels for breakfast, the thought of a sandwich was too much.  My father had some leftover rice.  I grabbed about a half tablespoon of butter and melted it in a hot pan, threw in two slices of deli ham which I had chopped, I seasoned the ham with some hot sesame oil and tossed it until it started to crisp.  I threw in the rice and some soy sauce and worked it around so it wouldn't stick to the pan.  I then cracked an egg and immediately swirled a fork around until the egg was not visible as egg anymore and had cooked through.  I immediately put it on a plate and dug in.  A spicy pork fried rice in literally 3 minutes, with no more than five ingredients and at a cost of no more than $1. 

It sounds silly, but things like this make my day.  Obviously, making more involved things, sharing them with others and receiving their praise is wonderful, but when you live alone, there is something truly therapeutic to it.  That and saving about $100 a week isn't bad either.  Why wouldn't you learn if you have time?

Comments

  1. I agree Hopper... I LOVE to cook and have gotten pretty good at it over the years. I truly enjoy making things from scratch without the benefit of a recipe. Trying out new taste combinations is fun. Sometimes it works out, sometimes not, but it is the trying that makes it enjoyable.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

White Privilege

This was a post I wrote on Facebook after surprisingly not seeing any moaning about the Documentary by Jose Antonio Vargas, titled White People Dayyum! I just scrolled my timeline and not a single white person got their feelings hurt by White People. I unfortunately haven't seen it, but the number of fake accounts that popped up on twitter, tells me it was a damn good show. Here's the thing. If someone of color aka non-white says "White Privilege," are you offended? If you said yes, then you are exhibiting white privilege. It has nothing to do with how hard you work or study, how you stayed out of trouble, because here's the thing, that is entirely the point. Somewhere out there, there are 100 Black, Spanish, Native American, Arab, Asian, who worked and studied as hard as you and never got in trouble, but they don't have what you "earned" or achieved. Stop looking at the one person you know who isn't white that achieved as your benchmark. Loo...

Quickie Review - Finding Vivian Maier

While I thoroughly enjoyed the film, especially the first 15-20 minutes, I was a little bothered by the way the film played out. The interviews with the clearly disturbed brother, sister and the mother, who obviously, was in for a cut, didn't need to be in the film. Then the woman who suggested abuse, yet seemed to have her life defined by Maier, as she tried to muster every ounce of emotion and fake guilt. Her friend, more than happy to be party of the charade. People who talk about abuse for the first time, usually don't do so on camera. The fact these scenes were so prominent, shows that they felt wronged that they were not rewarded. Maloof on the other hand, seems to disappear from the documentary during this part, almost hiding away from the fact, he went from complete praise, to even making money off of her, to destroying her personal legacy. He almost mentions the family of boys taking care of her rent, as an afterthought. Her burial spot, never shown, yet a video of her...

If You Listen To One Speech - Lana Wachowski

http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/videos/lana-wachowski-opens-up-about-difficult-past-and-attempted-suicide-20121024 Today I saw a link to a video for a speech by Lana Wachowski.  The last name rung a bell, but I could't put my finger on it. Lana, used to be Larry, one of the writer, director, producers of the Matrix trilogy, V for Vendetta and the upcoming Cloud Atlas.  Lana is transgendered and has "come out" as a woman.  She was being honored by the Human Rights Campaign. I didn't know what to expect when this broad woman with crazy hair and a raspy voice began to speak.  She began with the usual pleasantries and told of her hair dresser. She then tells of her desire to be a quiet person and how hard the success of the Matrix movies made this.  The first ten minutes is telling of how she's not quite ready to be this spokesperson.  Then she speaks about the new movie Cloud Atlas and reveals the heart of the movie and this speech. She states,"The resp...