I Missed My Calling

I feel like I missed my calling to go to culinary school.  I just absolutely love to cook and bake.  I think about it constantly.  I rather read a cookbook than anything else and I'm looking up recipes daily.  I wish I could stay at home and cook/bake all day.  You're probably making fun of me right now, ha!  But that's okay - this is my blog and I can post my random thoughts.

Cooking/baking is more of a stress relief to me than anything, I guess.  Some might consider it a hobby.  But when I'm in the kitchen focusing on the dish I'm preparing, I don't think about anything else (except maybe for the song that's playing on my Pandora radio).  It's so relaxing to me and the finished product usually always makes me happy.  I get to be inventive & imaginative.  It also takes strategy.  Understanding how different chemical reactions occur to get you to the end result fascinates me.  Thanks, mom and dad, for instilling the love in science in me.

I love to take a recipe and make it my own - Tweak it to get the end result that I prefer after experimenting with the original.  I also love recreating recipes from my favorite restaurants.  I can make Fettuccine Alfredo that's better than most Italian restaurants thanks to this.  My current focus is Bonefish Grill's Lily's Chicken.  I'll be trying this one out soon.

What I love most about cooking is having people eat what I cook.  And actually enjoy it.  There are few things that make me happier than seeing someone enjoy what I've made.

I am my father's daughter.  I totally get it now.  I guess it was bound to happen to one of us.  His parents were amazing cooks and owned a 24 hour diner in a small town in Mississippi.  Oh how I wish I could have met them.  I'm so thankful I have their recipes to continue making and pass down to my kids.  Here's to hoping a child of mine will inherit this love for cooking and baking like I have.