Not on a Menu

Daily writing prompt
What food would you say is your specialty?

I am not a great cook and neither do I have a good flavor palate. I do like cooking though.

I think cooking is my blissful time. I just zone out and every single worry in my mind flies away. I started my cooking with baking. I like baking cookies, cakes and muffins. I started baking because I did not like the store bought cookies or cakes. They were too sweet for my taste. So I baked for the first time, a chocolate cake with coffee extracts for a little bitter taste. I liked it. So I kept trying my hand in baking. A new recipe every year.

As far as actual cooking goes, I can cook everyday meals. However, when it comes to new cuisine, Chinese was my first attempt. The first time around the rice was not cooked and the spices and sauces ratio was totally off. I kept at it though and after multiple tries I made a decent Egg fried rice. After that, I tried Mexican, Thai, and Indian cuisines. My initial attempts were royal failures, but I have improved since then.

If you were to ask about my specialty, it would be cuisines that are a little on the spicy side. I do not understand most other flavors but spiciness is something that I can identify easily. So I mostly deviate to such cuisines.

I am unsure if I will ever have a specialty. I think my specialty is making food that my family likes. For now, it is enough.

Day 14: Day of Baking

I know that the word “baking” has a lot of different interpretations. I mean baking as in the cooking in the oven baking.

Today I tried waking up early but the weather outside was so cold! I did not want to leave the comfort of my warm blanket. The cold floor was a nightmare quite literally. I kept snuggling until I realized that I was awake and did not have any sleep left in me.

I definitely had huge plans for today. I went into the kitchen cleaned up the table to make space for my baking stuff. Once that was done, out came the eggs, sugar, flour, baking tins and the other ingredients. The first cake of the the day was a traditional plum cake. I had to keep taking breaks in the process due to my shoulder injury but I made it. It went into the oven to bake.

Meanwhile, when my nephews came over we set out to make a simple chocolate cake. Because according to them it is cake only when it is chocolate!

The plum cake came out okay – a 8 out of 10. The chocolate cake probably needed a little more time – a 6 out of 10. Regardless, I am happy that I could atleast make them this year.

The medicines are working. I may not be out of pain but it is getting better. I am able to stand for longer and do things that I used to. Little steps but little steps are moving me forward.

Thank you Jesus! For teaching me to find happiness in the small things of life.

Innocence

What brings a tear of joy to your eye?

Who doesn’t smile seeing a baby making funny faces. The instant happiness you get seeing a child opening a gift. A little girl baking for her parents birthday and ending up as a flour covered doll. A child dancing in the rain without a care of the world.

For me, seeing the innocence in and other humans, bring an automatic smile to my face.

The world today is a cruel place. There is no place for innocence anymore.

Everyone is forced to grow up soon. Everywhere you turn it feels like the world is just filled with hatred and evil. We no longer see the good in the world. All we do is live in the constant fear of being harmed

Seeing someone being able to appreciate and enjoy the little joy of life brings a tear to my eyes. I wish that the world was little bit nicer so that we could hold onto our innocence, a little bit longer.

Every memory that we make would not be tainted with the fear of what could go wrong, but with just pure emotions of happiness. I wish we could be children again without the fear that knowing this world brings.

Cook or Eat?

What’s your favorite recipe?

What exactly is the question here?

Is a prompt asking for what I like to eat or what I like to make?

If it’s asking for what I like to eat the answer would be anything made by my mom or sister or dad.

My family always considers my taste before making something for me. So there is no way that I would not like what they make for me.

On the other hand if you ask me what I like to make, I would choose easy recipes. Something that would not exhaust me by the time I am done with the cooking. I love making pita bread, chocolate chip cookies, fried chicken, rameyon, potato wedges, etc.

Brewing Recipes

I really love watching cooking shows and food shows on TV. I enjoy listening to the innovative food recipes the people on these shows come up with. However, I do not have a good taste palate.

I may not understand the different taste profiles but I love cooking food though. I think prefer cooking anything non-vegetarian. I love trying new recipes and making food that my wants.

But the meal that I love making the most is “Fried chicken”. It’s what Minny Jackson said on The Help – “Frying chicken make you tend to feel better about life”.

It took time.. trying many recipes from online. To finally figure out the recipes that made the chicken skin crispy while being cooked all the way through and mostly importantly without it getting it burnt.

With the fried chicken I also love to make potato cheese balls and toasted garlic bread. The combination it just heavenly. It’s my description of comfort food. And when I make them everyone in the family eats them with relish. The family that usually runs in different directions when it comes to favorite cuisine always comes together to enjoy it.

I also love baking. I bake cookies, cakes, biscuits anything with chocolate in it. Yet again, though I love only dark chocolate I love making chocolate goodies for my nephews.

Hopefully, in the future I can learn to appreciate all kinds of cuisine and also learn to make it.

Daily writing prompt
What’s your favorite thing to cook?