I am constantly amazed and in awe of people that have the capability to take raw ingredients, and just whip them into something wonderful and edible. This capacity is lost on me...I can look at individual items, and just never comprehend how to make them into food. If I have a very specific recipe, I can do that - but I don't enjoy it...I think for cooking to be good, the person doing has to like what they are doing. Those that are blessed with a passion for it, I'm envious - I have a deficiency of my Betty Crocker gland apparently. Yet another weird "rare genetic disorder" that I seem to be blessed with (and that's another story altogether). I watch lots of shows on Food Network, and it might as well be the SyFy channel for all that I understand what the hell is going on!
I have a handful of recipes that I can do well - tuna casserole (without nutmeg now...see below), shepherd's pie, chicken pot pie, lasagna, beef & noodles, grilled cheese, and meatloaf. And my meatloaf rocks (and no, there's NO ketchup in my recipe, that's just gross). But I have to have a very wild hair going to WANT to even bother cooking any of them. Thank goodness my poor husband knows this, and will feed us both most nights. And I feel guilty that I don't like to cook - I hate it, in fact. I feel that I'm not fulfilling my wifely duties some how by not even wanting to cook.
Last night for instance, which happened to be Valentine's Day, I was all prepared to go do the grocery shopping for some steaks (which the husband would have to do on the grill), baked potatoes (I can do the poking with a fork and wrapping in foil, and put the condiments out), one of those bags of salad, and a frozen cheesecake. I can handle all that, but I was (silently in my head of course) dreading it. My husband ROCKS - because when I called him to find out if I needed to get anything else at the grocery, he informed me he had already gone to the store, and got all the ingredients for sour cream chicken enchiladas, which I LOVE! What a great husband I have! The dinner would have been the best Valentine's gift, but he also got me a Forever Lazy (which I didn't even have to tell him I wanted, he just knows me so well...I love my husband!)...
So why do I so hate cooking? Is it just something innate in me, or is it my kitchen (which is frustrating in it's lack of counter space and no electrical outlets where they are needed, to say the least)? My mom was a stay-at-home mom until I was 13, then after we moved to Texas she went to work. She was the "June Cleaver" housewife in my mind when I was a kid - we always had dinner together at the table, and while Mom's repertoire may not have been extensive, it was all edible. Yes we had TV dinners occasionally, or Swanson's pot pies, or the box of Chef Boyardee pizza on Friday nights (which we loved)...but it was mainly the typical dinners that all my friends in the late 60's and through the 70's and 80's were eating. I didn't know any different at that time. And then we moved to Texas, and there was CHICKEN FRIED STEAK! We didn't know anything about this growing up in Ohio!! Although to date I don't believe my mom has ever tried to cook chicken fried steak...
The first time I tried to cook - I was 13, Mom had gone off to work, so my younger brother and I were home for a couple hours by ourselves after school. I thought I could make the tuna casserole, since I had watched Mom do it all my life. First of all, I somehow started a fire on the burner that got put out with a whole bag of flour...at least I didn't burn down the damn kitchen, but burnt flour is a huge mess! And secondly, apparently nutmeg isn't one of the ingredients in tuna casserole. I just saw Mom putting a bunch of different spices in the mix, and having no idea what the hell nutmeg was for, in it went...it's dinner and dessert all in the same dish! Thank God I at least knew that cinnamon shouldn't be included - that was for cinnamon/sugar toast...
So cooking is not something that is instinctual for me - I have to have explicit instructions apparently. I really want to find that desire and love for cooking...maybe it will take a new kitchen? That's on our wish list as soon as our new business venture takes off...
In the meantime - Mama's Pizza makes a kick-ass pizza, which I gladly make the drive to pick up. Genghis Grill has excellent Mongolian grill bowls. Pluckers is great for wings. And my best friend Elizabeth just introduced us to the Food Truck Park in Fort Worth - Dough Boy's Pizza Truck, The Bacon Wagon, Lee's Grilled Cheese (http://www.leesgrilledcheese.com/), Red Jett Sweets (http://www.redjettsweets.com/, who I'm about to begin stalking...mmm, cupcakes!) - all are excellent! We've also found a genuine authentic Italian place, it's mainly a brew pub but they offer pizza and a couple of pasta dishes that are to die for - Zio Carlo's on Magnolia in Fort Worth. I've never sucked down an entire 12" pizza faster in my life! These are the real deal - my parents lived in Italy for five years, and Carlo's food is just like we got over there! And El Gabacho off Bowen Road in Arlington - excellent Mexican food! As is Marianos near Six Flags.
In Dallas, where I lived for a couple years, there are several places off Lower Greenville that are great - Terillis, Blue Goose, Trinity Hall, Cafe Izmir (the best chicken basil wraps)...and the Pluckers there delivers until 3am!! I do miss that...
So we have lots of restaurants we love, but that gets expensive - so lots of nights we have grilled cheese, which I could eat every day, or whatever else my husband feels like cooking...I've been truly blessed to have a husband that understands my aversion to cooking. I just wish I could figure out how to change that, and to enjoy (and understand) cooking!
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