Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Because I can't sleep a post about what will make your mouth water....

Lately I have rediscovered an old love of mine...cooking. Actually, I have always enjoyed cooking, but for a really long time I just cooked as a means of necessity. In the past few weeks I have began to get more passion back for my old hobby that used to consume me not only personally but professionally.

Thinking back to my last couple of years of college, some of my favorite memories involved me baking bread. I seriously used to make a loaf of French bread from scratch just about every week. A couple of friends would flock to my apartment just to eat some bread dipped in olive oil and have a glass of wine or beer. We would just hang out and talk and it was absolutely fabulous.

Today I was thumbing through one of my recipe folders and was reminded even more of college. I stumbled upon all the recipes developed during my Quantity Food Production course. So many great recipes and ideas that I was so excited to prepare, and some that even worked their way into a couple catering menus (mmmm....Jerk Chicken) when I was a chef.

One of my favorite memories of my sister's wedding is the making of her cake. (Beth, if you have a pic send it to me so I can post it) The three tiered, purposely uneven, blue and white, Mad hatter inspired masterpiece was a great deal of stress at the time, but when I look back I think my mom and sisters would agree it was such a wonderful experience to make her unique cake. They may not agree about the pain-in-the-ass 350 mini wedding cakes I wanted for my wedding, but I still loved them and loved every long hour of icing all of those.

As I digress you are probably wondering if their is some kind of point to this post. And, no, I guess their isn't really. I recently found out I was doing a couple more cakes and cooking for a couple special events, so I have been thinking a lot about my own personal joy of cooking and creating and just felt like sharing. I feel like lately I have just been on coast a little bit, and I really need to get back to doing things that inspire me, and creating a rewarding dish is definitely one of them.

So over the next few weeks I have vowed to make more French bread, create a couple really cool cakes, and cook dishes that really have some heart and passion in them and aren't just something to do because I need something to eat. Because after all, isn't life so much better if you can find some way to take joy in everyday tasks?

1 comment:

Jenn said...

I can't wait to have your bread again!!

And congrats on rediscovering something that brings you joy!!!