Can a dislike turn into a like? Can I find a way to enjoy cooking instead of regarding it as a chore?
For many years, I didn’t need to cook. My husband Andy shared his cooking passion with our kids, and most of them were happy to take turns being the family chef.
Then, one by one, my children left home, and now if I want to eat, I have to cook. I make meals because I must. As I pull out pans and arrange ingredients on the kitchen bench, I say, “I don’t love cooking, but I love the people I’m cooking for.” That’s why I swallow my cooking resistance and head into the kitchen at the end of each day.
But I wonder, what if I loved cooking instead of just tolerated it? What if I felt like racing to the kitchen each afternoon with a sense of anticipation instead of sighing with reluctance and heading there with heavy feet? Could I turn things around, transforming a dislike into a like? Could cooking become a passion?
I know all about doing things I don’t particularly enjoy. Years ago, I somehow found myself doing a Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in botany. I wasn’t particularly interested in learning the chemical pathways of photosynthesis. I hated trudging through the freezing rain on Welsh winter days, a magnifying glass in my hand, searching for mosses and lichens. Even worse was standing in an Irish sea fishing for seaweeds with numb fingers. Setting up elaborate laboratory experiments with primroses culled from the forest didn’t appeal to me either.
But there was one thing I did enjoy: drawing plants.
Drawing was my angle. My way into a subject that didn’t excite me. As I copied the different parts of a flower, I felt wonder. I realised I did love plants after all.
These days, I am greatly interested in the native wildflowers in the bush near our home. As the seasons change, I document the changing flora with my camera and try to identify all the species. The local plants, like the weather and the birds, are an essential part of my life.
I wonder if I can find my individual angle into cooking like I did with plants. Is there anything that might excite my curiosity?
First, I think about what makes cooking seem so difficult. What dampens my enthusiasm? Not being able to find the ingredients quickly? Cooking when I’m tired? Not knowing what to cook?
My daughters recommend Tonight, a cookbook by Nagi Maehashi from RecipeTin Eats. They cook some of the Asian recipes and invite me to dinner. The next time I’m in town, I buy a copy of the book.
Back home, I open the book and gulp as my eyes run down the ingredients list. There are so many things that aren’t in our pantry. I almost stumble before I’ve cooked anything. Perhaps cooking Asian food was a bad idea.
“Once you’ve stocked your pantry, you’ll be fine, Mum. The recipes are easy.”
Andy and I go shopping and fill our trolley with Asian staples like hoisin sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil and Chinese cooking wine. I arrange everything neatly on trays and slide them into the pantry and fridge. Everything is ready and easy to find.
Early in the afternoon, while I still have lots of energy, I choose a recipe, find the ingredients, arrange everything on the kitchen bench, and then begin cooking.
Once I’ve overcome the challenge of opening the oyster sauce bottle with its plastic pull plug – I soften it under the hot water tap – everything goes smoothly. Soon, I’ve made sesame ginger mince with rice. It smells delicious. I can’t wait to eat it.
“That was good!” says my youngest daughter as she swallows the last of her dinner. “Can you please make that again?”
Maybe I can! Appreciation is an excellent motivator for continuing to cook.
I have a new cookbook and an organised pantry of ingredients. Is there something else that might spark my cooking curiosity?
I usually listen to podcasts while I walk our dogs. Could I listen to a food one? I find an episode of Use It Up, a podcast about not wasting food, and discover we can eat broccoli stems and leaves as well as the florets. That’s interesting, especially as I’d like to avoid wasting food and money. I might do some research.
I enjoy watching MasterChef Australia. The other night, a contestant made gnocchi. Could I make some too? I find a RecipeTin Eats recipe for gnocchi with ricotta and Parmesan cheese. I toss those cheeses into my weekly grocery shopping trolley. Later, Andy discovers them in our fridge. “I’m going to make my own gnocchi,” I tell him. Andy is surprised. He’s also impressed.
Laura, a MasterChef veteran, is a pasta specialist. Could I make pasta too? Do I need one of those fancy machines that laminates the dough? I need to do more research.
I love photography. Could I combine this interest with cooking? I remember some YouTube videos about food photography. I could watch them and then take photos of my cooking creations.
Today is the solemnity of St Mary MacKillop. My mind skips ahead to dinner. Could we celebrate this special day with a feast? I flip through my RecipeTin Eats cookbook until a fish and coconut curry catches my eye. I have some barramundi fillets in the freezer. Could I use them in the curry? Perhaps I could make some naan. What about a dessert?
I guess I won’t be throwing a few crumbed fish fillets and some frozen chips in the air fryer tonight. I’ll be cooking something from scratch, something special for the people I love.
So, I’ve been conducting a cooking experiment. What have I discovered? How am I feeling?
I can’t say cooking has become a huge new passion. I won’t be starting a food blog or writing my own cookbook. But my reluctance to cook has lessened. My curiosity has awakened, and I suspect cooking could be a fascinating subject.
I will continue to cook. I will continue the cooking experiment. I might even buy Dinner, another RecipeTin Eats book.
So, do you enjoy cooking? Or is it something you reluctantly do at the end of each day? Do you have any food-related interests? Perhaps you like watching cooking shows or taking photos of food? Or maybe like me, you love going out for dinner!
Featured Image
by Luisa Brimble, Unsplash
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Hi Sue!
I am honored to be counted as a friend here in your cozy little corner of the internet. Thanks for having me! I loved this blog post and I’m so glad you shared your efforts to enjoy cooking and what you’ve been making for your family. Asian ingredients can definitely be mind-boggling if you haven’t heard of them but it sounds like you’ll be slinging soy sauce like a pro soon enough! I have grown to enjoy cooking more and more over the 10+ years I’ve had a family to cook for. I love the challenge of finding random ingredients in my pantry (like lentils or beans) or delicious-looking seasonal produce from the local farmers market (beautifully dark greens or funky-looking pumpkins) and finding a yummy recipe for it. I like to work with limitations rather than endless possibilities — if that makes sense!
I love the bit about botany– that you were able to identify that you do love plants and drawing their amazing parts, just not the scientific experiments. Sometimes it feels like there’s a pressure to do it all, but you have wittled down to the core of your interest and have brought more joy to your life because of it. Delightful and insightful! I will have to keep a closer eye out for finding the inner love of different interests as I go about my day. Thanks again for sharing!
Katie,
I love your idea of limitations! I enjoy challenges, too. Years ago, trying to find the cause of my daughter’s chronic eczema, I tried eliminating dairy, wheat and other foods, one at a time from our meals. I looked for ways to adapt recipes and found new ones. My girls and I did something similar when we wanted to eliminate sugar from our diet. Experimenting with recipes, looking for substitutes for the things we no longer wanted to eat, we discovered lots of ingredients that we’d never tried before.
I also like writing limitations. I don’t enjoy social media, but when I was on IG, I relished the challenge of sharing a story or idea with only 2,200 characters. Often, I had to prune my words, leaving only those that were essential without stripping out my ‘voice’. Blogging A-Z challenges are also good.
My daughter, Sophie, used to say with great enthusiasm that everything is interesting. We just have to find our individual way to connect with a topic. I guess that’s what I’m trying to do as I experiment with cooking. One thing I do love is collecting cookbooks. Even if I never use the recipes, I enjoy turning the pages, savouring the photography. I especially like cookbooks that tell stories.
Just recently, though, I’ve been doing more than looking at my books. I’ve been cooking the recipes and splashing the beautiful pages with things like soy sauce and sesame oil! Oh yes, I’m getting comfortable with Asian ingredients.
I discovered that Nagi’s book, ‘Tonight’, in its first week of release, broke the Australian record for the highest first-week sales of a nonfiction book. It’s an excellent book!
I’ve enjoyed chatting with you. Happy cooking!
I am excited for you that you are pursuing new interests!! I look forward to your future endeavors
Nancy,
Thank you! I wonder if you’ve tried anything new recently. Are there things you’ve always wanted to do or know more about?
I’ve always wanted to draw, but I’ve told myself I’m a writer not an artist. But there’s nothing stopping me from drawing if I accept I don’t have to be good at it. I bought a drawing challenge book recently. A drawing for each day of the year. Very simple drawings suitable for adding to journals. I might give it a go!
I am very much a foodie, but I have a tendency to get in a rut when I dine out, ordering the same things every time. The other night I took Nathan out to eat at a wonderful family owned Mexican restaurant in our state capital. We had eaten there for his birthday back in February. I ordered a taco as I normally would, you know play it safe, LOL. But this time I spotted Mexican street corn on the menu and had to try it. I’m hooked😋. It’s an ear of corn that is cooked to a partial char on a grill and then spread with a mayonnaise sauce and crumbled cheese and then drizzled with hot sauce and then sprinkled with cilantro. Honestly that ear of corn was a meal in itself. Absolutely delicious. I took Nathan back to the same restaurant a second time the other night and I just bought 2 years of corn as my supper. The waitress kind of laughed at me, was that’s all I wanted cuz I’m not a big eater it was amazing. That’s my new thing!
Nancy,
I’m so sorry I’ve taken a long time replying to your comment. I’ve been stuck down a rabbit hole exploring new things!
One of the things I’ve been exploring is AI generated podcasts. I made one about this cooking post. I might share it in a future blog post.
I often play it safe when ordering at a restaurant. What if I’m adventurous and order something different and then don’t like it? But what if I discover something new I absolutely love? It sounds like you’re glad that you took a risk and chose Mexican street corn!
We found a few recipes for cooking corn in our air fryer. I love charred corn with a spicy sauce. I’m sure I’d enjoy your new thing!
So good to chat! 😊🩷
Keep checking things out Sue. It’s exciting to hear what your discovering
Nancy,
I have discovered a lot of new things, but so far, I haven’t worked out how I want to use them. I guess I could just write a blog post about all my discoveries. That might be a good starting point! 😊🩷
Love it !! 💘
This was so fun to read, Sue! Looking forward to hearing about your next adventure.
Luana,
It’s so good to connect with you! I hope all is well with you and your family. Thank you for wanting to follow along as I search for my next adventure! 💜😊