cooking

For the past few months I’ve been making an honest effort to learn how to cook. Though my first few efforts were mediocre at best, I’ve definitely stepped up my game. Though I am far from an Iron Chef, it feels liberating to know that I’m in a place now where I can actually cook real food. One day, I hope that I’m good enough as a chef that I can make a decent meal on the fly with whatever ingredients and cooking tools I have at my disposal.

Though cooking can be a time-intensive process, that hasn’t bogged down my enjoyment of the process, which I enjoy quite a bit. Why? Oddly, I’ve been able to draw a connection between my enjoyment of cooking and enjoyment of video games.

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If life were an RPG, and you were to analyze how my life skill points have been allocated, it would be clear that I’ve done some min-maxing. While I may be a pretty good video game player, I can’t cook. Having grown up in a family where my mom was a pro-star chef, I’m not afraid to admit that I took advantage of her cooking skills for all that it was worth. Left to my own devices, I couldn’t cook a Pop Tart without it burning and shattering into pieces in the toaster. If you’re wondering, yes, I actually did screw up a Pop Tart not too long ago to the point where I had to turn my toaster upside down to dump the charred remains of a burnt Pop Tart.

With that said, I made a commitment to myself that I would at least make an honest effort to figure this cooking thing out the moment I moved out on my own. Not too long ago, I went through a 3-night stretch where I had to fend for myself in order to eat dinner. I could have settled for fast food or a microwavable dinner, but I decided to grow up and try this cooking thing for real. With the limited cooking skills I have, was I able to turn anything around that didn’t completely suck?

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