The Making of a Semi-Successful, Kinda Okay Chef/Baker

Tiny chefs around the world at this exact moment are discovering their natural talent for cooking while others are making sure they just stay best friends with their microwave or delivery man. Every child has tried their hand at cooking with their mothers and fathers or even grandparents, a skill once learned can be a beautiful thing.

When I was a child at about 8-9 years old (check the picture, that’s right, that’s me) about the only thing my biological mother cooked that was really good was her fried chicken. Folks I literally started cooking for less than two months but most of the time I just got whatever she needed in the kitchen, so you know the slave work all parents make you do. I felt confident, I had watched my mother fry chicken for so long I thought I could replicate it. I was so wrong. One day my sister and I were frying chicken together and we had done all the steps right, flour, spices, chicken etc.. We had our pot of oil ready and it was SUPER hot guys, I mean Satan’s soul hot.

I had dipped the first very cold chicken leg into the pot and did I mention it was also about four inches tall and most of the way full? My kitchen lit up as if I had dumped gasoline onto fire. Everything was on fire and I panicked. I started freaking out, my parents were upstairs waiting for some fried chicken and my house was on fire. Meanwhile, I’m having a meltdown my sister is just sitting the counter with a blank face and is making it abundantly obvious she’s not gonna save me even though I was the oldest by a year.

In a panicked hurry I grabbed my fire extinguisher not knowing how the hell to use it and start pulling pins and shit until I was able to spray out the contents that would save my bacon from literally burning my house down. It worked. My kitchen was covered in green crap but we were alive and my sister was dying of laughter. Pretty sure that’s a close sign she could be a psychopath but what are sisters for?

No one started out perfect at cooking, ever. We all start somewhere and we grow given how much effort we put into it. My beginning was so god awful you probably would have thought I should have quit! However, we persevere. Growing up my favorite thing was family recipes, I could not get enough of them.

In 2010, my grandmother and I swapped recipes from our family. My favorite recipes were her meatballs and pinwheel cookies we made from crust dough we didn’t need anymore. We bonded over that summer when I turned 18 and that’s something special that I’m sure we all have experienced. I asked some friends on Facebook about their family dishes or traditions they had and I gotta say some of them were really out there.

Some of the dishes I received were Mexican Meatloaf with rice, which honestly I’ve never heard of but her father made it for her and her family. My best friend gave me Rice Pizza, which is a new one for me. Her family enjoyed making it and loading it with veggies. Soup and sandwiches was very popular because it was a warm meal enjoyed by child. I enjoyed reading all the peculiar recipes and reasons why they loved certain meals and it all circulated around family.

The saying that is not used well enough in this day and age is, ‘Food brings people together.’ Food has been bringing families, friends and strangers close together since the dawn of well, food. Eating with others has a very positive effect on moods and gives us a sense of home. Many cultures are based around food and family including most Asian cultures, Hispanic, African, and so on.

Growing up I loved cooking for mass amounts of people and even still to this day. Having people gathered around my table eating the food we all worked hard to make and spending quality time was my huge motivator to cook. Now a days it’s very rare to have dinner with others without electronics which I have been guilty of as well. I guess I’m kind of ranting on but my main idea here was that cooking brings people together and that’s what I love most. Carrying on my families recipes and creating a few of my own so my great grandchildren can have that connection to their family.

Everyone has their own reason for cooking and all of them are not wrong answers. Be inspired by your culinary awakening and keep striving positively. My goal for my page is to help keep your inspiration going and provide tips and recipes that could possibly end up on your table tonight. I appreciate you reading and I hope it has made you think about your family and special memories.

Keep cooking. ❤️