Tuesday, July 20, 2010

why carnivorous bipeds need to cook their food too

Let it be known that a small miracle has taken place here in the Wilmington heat! I've found myself wanting to cook lately, wanting to learn how to make certain things in the kitchen.

Alicia says: "Maybe it's God."
Sarawr responds: "Must be. I think it'd take an act of God. I want to make an egg."

The truth is it must be the heat. My brains are addled (see what I did there?). But let me explain. I did not grow up around people who cooked often, maybe once every two weeks if memory serves. My baby sitter cooked a lot as far as I can remember but we weren't allowed in the kitchen and so not only did I never learn but I never really developed any interest in it. Particularly since I was fed from a box most of my life and never did get out of the habit--but this is between us: there are certain American stereotypes I will gladly embrace (wink) and others I want nothing at all to do with, this being one of them.

Now, it was never really a problem. I always figured I could get away with it as long as I was only feeding myself, and except for when I was in Colombia and was helping some to feed my roommate's brothers and sister, it's been easy enough. But then there came the problem that one day I might have a family and they'll want to be fed. And I'll want to feed them and make them fat and happy. It wasn't ever a problem before because a) this is my second favorite video on youtube, b) marriage always did seem such a long way off. But now, while I am quite content about being single, learning to cook has been nudging at me. For the record, I'm not doing this to be more marriagable. That would be silly. But I figure being able to take care of people and keep them alive is a skill I ought to have.

That said, it's not actually what convinced me. I'm not sure what convinced me, those are just the head arguments I have. Why suddenly I want to go make eggs (which I can do, by the way, and they're not that bad) I have no idea. I'll tell you this: I love baking. It's the math of it. I like to pretend I'm in Potions class at Hogwarts. But cooking, less like math and more like art? I'm really not all that creative outside of maybe writing and being an INTP I can legitimize the penchant for systems and rules.

Aside: Alicia is now reading from the Julia Childs book (Mastering the Art of French Cooking) about how when she first got married she didn't know anything about cooking and Scott said, "Why did he marry her?" You see this? Terrible!

But that is where we are now. We've got this cook book out that explains what flour does and why you use it and maybe if I understood it all a little better instead of people just putting ingredients in and I have no idea what they do, well then maybe I'd like it a little better. But just last week I helped to cook a fish and it was delicious. And next week I'll be helping with shrimp scampi, some sort of strange cheese biscuits and blackberry pie for our staff worker and his wife. I'm excited!

So all of that is to say I don't know where the desire to cook came from since I've been half trying to convince myself for about a year and even more how I've come to enjoy doing it in the last few weeks. But I'm jumping on it while it's there. So if you have any have any good, easy starter recipes, send them this way! And I'll even blog about it. I'll call it The Epic Adventures of Sarawr the Dinosaur: Why Carnivorous Bipeds Need to Cook Their Food Too. Stay tuned!

4 comments:

  1. I like how you spelled carnivorous right in the blog but completely butchered (see what I did there) the spelling in the title. Haha. Perhaps it's because your brains are Scrambled rather than addled. And Sarawr... you're an omnivore, not a carnivore. :) bet you wish I had a blog right now so you could leave me a mean, but lighthearted, comment on it. ;)

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  2. oh boy. well i fixed it. i'm convinced it's all this other language stuff i'm having to do that's got my spelling all messed up. and an omnivore? pfaw! i don't eat vegetables! so i'm something like a carnivOre and a carbivore. how's that? haha, and i think that just means you'll have to start a blog! definitely let me know if you do :)

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  3. Good luck! I'm sure you'll love it. Once you start doing it, it's a bit addictive. There's a deep sort of primal pleasure in preparing food that's delicious and nourishing, and sharing it with friends makes it even better. And the more you cook, the better you'll get at it (though don't get discouraged at the duds along the way--they're inevitable).

    One of my favorite websites is allrecipes.com. You can sort recipes by rating, and you can search by ingredients.

    Quiches are super easy. Seems like a good next step from eggs.

    This is my favorite recipe and it couldn't be easier: http://www.oprah.com/food/Jools-Favorite-Saturday-Afternoon-Pasta

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  4. oooh, this sounds exciting :) i'll let you know how they come out!

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