Does cooking soothe your soul?

[CharlieD]

I love cooking (shhh, just don’t tell my wife I always tell her that I do it out of necessity) don’t take me wrong, I really, really do and it is enjoyable, but for stress relieve there only two things that help, cloth shopping, and the other one I’m not going to mention so not to be edited.

 

[licia]

I too prefer to cook for others. But when I am cooking a large meal I rarely eat it. I guess I have had my fill with all the tasting to get it just right!

I really thought I was the only one who was like that. We always have a huge Thanksgiving meal at the farm and by the time meal time arrives I want only a cup of coffee or a glass of iced tea. I don't do a lot of tasting but the smells of such delicious food usually is so satisfying for me. I really enjoy the leftover meal much more.

 

[Andy M.]

I think you'll find many cooks have lost their appetites when they have prepared a big meal such as Thanksgiving.

This came up in an old thread and many cooks stated the same. By the time the meal is served, they have no appetite to eat it because the smells of the kitchen and all the foods cooking have curbed your appetite.

 

[ChefJune]

Yup! Slicing, dicing, chopping, mixing, cooking... better than a Valium for me!

Well put!

 

[PrincessFiona60]

So, all the things that others find so onerous, chopping, slow or long cooking, large meals...we find soothing. Are we strange???

 

[LPBeier]

So, all the things that others find so onerous, chopping, slow or long cooking, large meals...we find soothing. Are we strange???

No, we are foodies!

 

[DaveSoMD]

Strange, I don't know about that...many cook because they plain have to, not becasue they like/love to. We make big meals and love to share our love and passion and the fruits of them with others, so to us it is not a chore to cook big meals, dice and chop, saute and slice, it is our passion, it is in our blood, it is part of us and who we are.

It is like having "the theater bug" it can't be explained and no one will understand but others that share your passion. My family never unerstood that, they still don't, and they don't really understand my love of cooking.

So yes, maybe we are strange. Oh, and to answer the origianl question, yes cooking does sooth my soul.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

My family never unerstood that, they still don't, and they don't really understand my love of cooking.

My family doesn't understand, either. They also don't understand why I picked nursing as a career or my love for Science-Fiction...I'm the odd one in my family.

 

[Kayelle]

To expand a little about why I love to cook.....I love my own cooking.

I may be selfish, but I simply wouldn't cook something I don't like. That's one of the many reasons I wouldn't do well cooking for wages. If someone requested that I cook something I don't like, I'd simply suggest they learn how to cook it themselves.

 

[Claire]

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Definitely not baking, too much science and math for me to screw up! But when making a dish I know my friends and/or family will love (or at least enjoy an experience), in a comfortable kitchen with good knives and cooperative guests, yes. Fussy eaters? People who think that toddlers in the kitchen when you're dealing with very hot, very heavy items? Then, no. Cooking out on the grill, almost always yes.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

The only place I encounter toddlers in the litchen is when I cook at my mother's house. Mom has a counter bar and I have the kids sit there where they can watch me and they are quite adept at tearing lettuce, picking grapes, stemming cherries, shucking corn. I've even made refrigerated cookie dough before I start so they can roll and cut out cookies while I run around the kitchen. They are also fantastic taste testers!!! I just set the boundaries, like this line right here ---> and no further, before we start.

I would think a card table set-up in a corner where they could watch would help, too!

 

[Claire]

I, too, find myself not hungry when I sit down to eat when it is a big meal, especially holiday meals. I've tasted and tasted and really am quite full; I'm sweaty and tired. When I'm hot and tired, my hands shake, which can be embarassing. But mostly I just don't feel like eating, and I love to eat.

The child thing? I guess I didn't make myself clear. We're not talking kids old enough to even think of helping. I mean barely old enough to walk, a year, not even quite two. One time I actually picked up a year old nephew, handed him to his father, and said, I'm about to take the turkey out of the oven, please keep him out of the kitchen for a few minutes, it is over 20 pounds and he'll get hurt. Grabbed the bird, was getting ready to lift it, and the baby was under my feet. And similar things. No, the toddlers old enough to help? Yeah, I give them a job and they're happy and so am I. Like you, it was Mom's kitchen, which has a great , low "peninsula" where the grands (my nieces and nephews) did homework, crafts, and for those so inclined, help cooking. Now they're all in high school and college, and I didn't kill any of them with a slipped 20+ pound turkey, or scald them with juices, but it was a problem for a few years there.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

I firmly believe in tying down....er... I mean placing in a highchair and buckling in, those small enough they can't take direction. Or even out on the porch with the dogs and cats.

I'm kidding about the porch, honest!