Why Cook?

So many of my very close friends and family members ooze with artistic passion and talent.  I have always been a bit envious, not that they have talent that is simply not possessed by yours truly, but because they find such solace in creating and sharing a piece of themselves with the world.

Given the fact that my attention span rivals only that of an amoeba, my sporadic quests to become one of the artsy-craftsy folk have always ended - crashed and burned to be more accurate.  In the closet of the little room I call my own, you will find unfinished:

• Knitting Projects - Oh yes, my tension was praised, as was the consistency of my stitch size.  I lost it when a dropped stitch was noticed a few rows back, and my patience lacked to fix it.

• Scrap Booking - All the adorable supplies sit in a lovely, designated plastic storage container.  What's that you say?  I have to take the time to get photos printed to scrap book?  I guess that would mean that I would need to be vigilant about taking photos in the first place.

• Sewing - The machine sits, awaiting my attention,  as does some material, a "Sew-Easy" pattern, and all of the notions needed to get the job done.  But what happens if I mess up?  The project would end up like my knitting.  So why start it in the first place?

• Drawing, Painting, Sculpting - I tremendously enjoy viewing all of the various works of art, but the world around me expresses extreme gratification that I do not even attempt to create my own.  My 8 year old heart was smashed in pieces when my art teacher found that I was the only student that didn't have one single piece worthy to hang in the school art fair.  In 20/20 hindsight, it was probably best that the "No Child Left Behind" endeavor did not yet exist.  I not only deserved to be left behind; I probably should have been exiled to an uninhabited desert island.

My passion lies in cooking.  Over the last several years, I have come to the conclusion that cooking is a boon for someone like me.  Here's why:

• Cooking has a definite start and finish, and usually the finish is within a single day's span of the start.  Even big meals, like Thanksgiving, might take days of planning, but the actually cooking action is over within a solid 24 hour period of time. 

• The end result of the effort of cooking gives instant gratification.

• Cooking DOES provide solace an a sense of accomplishment, and it is something that one can take to the next level with creativity and passion. 

• Meals bring family and friends together.  It shows people that you care about them.  Good meals (and even the failed attempts at good meals, i.e. Bridget Jones' blue soup) are typically enjoyed with smiles and laughter.  

• 9 out of 10 times, errors made while cooking can be easily remedied with a dash of this or pinch of that.  If they can't be fixed, there is not days, weeks, or months of time invested in the project.  In addition, one does not feel like they need to store the effort for posterity's sake (nor could they if they wanted to). 

My kitchen is my studio; my guests are my audience.  It is with a full heart and satisfied palate that my dishes are cleaned at the end of the meal.  And my guests can usually find me asleep in my chair with a satisfied smile on my face, before they even leave my home. 

Welcome to Chez Spence.