Tracy's challenge 74.

“I ONLY HAVE A KITCHEN BECAUSE IT CAME WITH THE HOUSE

I would consider myself a pretty talented person (I can cook, scrap, knit,  embroider, sew, create a Balance Sheet and a Budget, operate a drill – with fear and difficulty mind you – understand complicated law and psychology, etc. etc. etc).  Maybe I should rather say that I am a pretty capable person – show me how to do something once and I can usually pretty much get on with it right away.

Now, I usually enjoy being creative in some form or other and I consider cooking and baking to be a creative talent … BUT somewhere along the line, I have a mental block when it comes to providing a meal for my family.  Don’t get me wrong, I CAN cook – pretty well in fact – I can make basics from scratch, like white/cheese/pepper/mushroom sauces, gravies, stocks, etc.  I have dozens of Cookery Books, which I have read from cover to cover.  I watch the cooking Channel on BBC Food AND I have attended very “fancy” cooking lessons.  And guess what?  I can even throw a pretty impressive and yummy Dinner Party … I just don’t enjoy everyday cooking and I don’t like shopping for food, not only because it is like a big black hole in our hard-earned finances, but because it’s boooooring.  Okay, so I know I sound like my teenager here … tee hee … but you cook, you clean, you shop, you cook, you clean, you shop … and so the cycle goes …. Booooring ….

On top of all of this, my boys are so darn fussy … they don’t eat veggies, so no stir-fries or anything veggie-related. They don’t like mince, so there goes Lasagne, Cottage Pie and Spaghetti Bolognaise.  They don’t even like rice, or stews or anything that even resembles a stew or casserole … It’s sooo frustrating and almost impossible .. sigh … BUT I do what I have to …

As for baking … well, I’ve tried on numerous occasions with very little success … It’s kind of a joke in our home because once a year (on Bryce’s Birthday) I get all geared up to bake for him – after all, I have to send cake to school, then we have family over for cake and tea and then he usually has a Birthday Party with his mates … that’s at least 3 Cakes and other baked goods.  So, I get organised early (ahem … usually the day before …) – I check the recipes, buy all the ingredients and get to work, but somehow, it always flops (even those supposedly “flop-proof” recipes I get from well-meaning family and friends …).  Okay, so sometimes it burns even though I have pre-heated the oven at the correct temperature and checked cooking times, etc. Sometimes Greg even has to go to a 24-hour Garage store at like 11pm to buy more eggs, or milk or something … sigh …

Alright, so we’ve established that I can’t bake and I don’t like to cook BUT my boys are fit and healthy and they love me, despite my lack of culinary talent … and that’s all that really matters, isn’t it?

February 2010”

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