Cooking

I've been cooking since I moved off campus my second year of graduate school. I enjoy eating and I figured out early on that the two were connected somehow.

Cooking has the hallmark of many hobbies (it is after all not my day job) in terms of something involving eye-hand coordination, planning, and tangible pleasure when it works out right.

Early on I started with a second-hand cookbook from my mother; over time I grew to lessen many of the recipes' quantities of salt, butter, etc.  I developed an interest in stir-fries and slow-cooker recipes and accumulated from birthday and Christmas presents a range of cookbooks to support that interest.

As a graduate student (Poor Hungry and Depressed was the meme) I couldn't spend much each week, even though cooking for myself saved money over meal plans and restaurants. I was heavy into soups for a while.

I do like to cook with a lot of herbs and spices, so I budgeted a new spice each week. I had a few pieces of cookware from my mother but accumulated more, about one per month or so.  I was blessed with living in an apartment a few blocks away from a restaurant supply store that had good discounts for plain but functional equipment.

My aptitude for cooking has a lot to do with my career strengths. Cooking, at least the way I do it, requires a good deal of planning before even getting to the preparation. As my first yoga instructor taught me in a different context, I visualized the steps of each recipe, planned for the time required, and anticipated ways to reorder the steps of each recipe. Most of all it encouraged me to look for new ideas on a regular basis to avoid stagnancy.