As
a teenager, I LOVED to eat. So I enjoyed baking, too. The pleasure of making
delicious pies, cream puffs, crepes and so many kinds of puddings. I made some
fantastic apple pies from scratch, back then. And I got even more pleasure when
my family would enjoy what I had made. I was still learning and more important,
I wanted to keep trying even after a failure or two with some new recipe.
As I set off into repetitive, random chaos of
choices and compromises that is Adulthood, the love of food became a battle
against food and thus started my spiral descent into non-culinary care and fear
of delectable exploration. I came to the sad resolve that nothing I would
concoct would ever be edible so never presentable to others besides my family,
who were also defeated to knowing the meaning of ‘Free-For-All’, in the torture chamber that became any
kitchen that I was standing in. Pizza (or other Take-Out menus) were handy when
expecting company. Alcohol was helpful with the hosting or lack thereof.
Then Life shifted, as it does, presenting me with a re-do
of opportunities and lots of time to think about all of everything. Since it
wasn’t my first time at the rodeo, I had long decided that I would go into this
new shift of circumstances using the knowledge of the past, without fear
blinding my future possibilities.
I caught myself watching a cooking show now and then.
Nothing ever lasted more than 15 mins (or the time of a recipe) and none of the
hosts were my kind of teacher – sorry Mr. G. Ramsay. Until I came across Anna& Kristina’s Grocery Bag and I was hooked. I had previous caught some of
their shows during their earlier show “The Grocery Bags” (good stuff), I just
wasn’t able to appreciate what they were offering to me, at the time. During
the first episode of Anna & Kristina’s Grocery Bag, I was enjoying watching
them execute a random recipe for their first time and showing that mistakes
happen to everybody (even you, Mr. G. Ramsay). And it was okay to try again, or
find something else to create that you can accomplish.
The inspiration from Anna & Kristina’s Grocery Bag
helped bring the love back for me. I cleaned out my kitchen and started making
some bread. It was a re-do, of course. That is why I went for it. And I was
rewarded with some pretty delicious dinner rolls. Then came the whole turkey
(secret ingredient - Club House Montreal Steak Spice) and started the New Year
with a Knock-Your-Socks-Off Banana Bread, using a variation from the
original Betty Crocker recipe.
And when I rocked the French Crepe recipe from King Arthur’s Flour, to the raves of my teenage son, I knew I had brought myself
back to a level of contentment that was reflected in the love I infused while I
was in the kitchen.
Get your ‘bake’ on, people. It might be the therapy
you need.
©Dominique Clark 2016
