I like food. In fact I would go as far as to say I love it. By this I mean all respects of food and all its possibilities, from the act of eating it to dreaming up new ways to experiment with flavors. It wouldn’t be a lie to say, I’m most happy when I’m in the kitchen cooking up something for my nearest and dearest. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no Stepford wife, I have 2 jobs and the rest but I find cooking incredibly cathartic and, in my own little way, I show love through food. The old cliché: food’s the way to a man’s heart, is true! I’ve wooed with heart shape lasagnes, showed love in the shape cookies iced with rap lyrics and created profiterole towers with spun sugar as means of an apology I was unable to vocalise. You name it, I’ve expressed it through food.
I grew up in a large family on my mother’s side who all expressed emotion though beautifully simple yet delicious meals laced with love, hate, anger and whole lot of dairy! This is where, for my formative years, I learnt my skills and my kitchen manner. You see, ‘too many chefs spoil the broth’ as my mother used to say and with 6 aunts in the mix there were always arguments over who’s technique was the best for gravy/roast potatoes/roast chicken. When backs were turned, seasonings were thrown into mixtures with knowing winks and snide remarks. As a result I am a complete control freak in the kitchen. I get near hysterical if someone tries to offer advice or question my culinary technique. I have spent a long time honing my skills and my kitchen is my kingdom. The reality is I’m a perfectionist and I always want to go beyond people’s expectations, especially if I’ve cooked for them before. I am that ‘feeder’. I can’t help it, you cannot come to my house without being fed, often whether you even knew you were hungry or not.
We all live ridiculously busy lives but I truly feel we need to spend more time cooking and eating together. The stuff I cook on a week night has to be simple or I’m just too tired to bother. So, I decided to channel my feeding tendencies into a regular cooking feature over at TheWhorington.com which starts this week with my Mac cheese and fried chicken recipe CLICK. Feel free to hit me up with questions, comments and suggestions!
Tags: Mildilla, Milly cooking, Thewhorington.com