I never quite believed cooking could be fun and enjoyable until I heard the story of another blog friend about cooking at her place and her kids all sitting around helping and chatting about one thing and another.
It wasn’t always pleasant for me. So many mouths to feed and so little time and money for anything fancy.
So often it was ‘stage food’ a name given to a mincemeat and vegetable dish that could be cooked up and feed a multiple of mouths. For that was how it was then, many mouths, always hungry and meal times a lottery as to who would like dinner and who’d spit it out.
Cooking was a stressful time because you were all the time trying to please the ones you were feeding, and they were so often critical.
Having a meal thrown at you was always an indication that it wasn’t satisfactory. Not that anyone ever tried to improve on what you cooked for that was stepping into the brink, and no one ever wanted to do that.
So meal times became so stressful it was easy to fain putting it off and then offering to buy take away as that was always a sure-fire winner.
It was different when my wife cooked, as then it was all hands on deck, galley slaves to the fore and a meal fit for a king was prepared. It took hours, loads of washing up and cleaning, tantrums and blame handed out willy nilly.
But she needed to demonstrate her skills and satisfy her audience.
It’s a long time since those days, and things have changed a lot.
Cooking through some quirk of fate has become enjoyable. We have family dinners now where the kids come round with their families, everyone brings something, and they often marvel at how my cooking has improved.
No longer is ‘stage food’ on the menu though they remind me of it from time to time.
It’s allowed me the opportunity to experiment, to try new dishes and tastes and so far it’s been successful mainly because I feel no stress, less anxious and look forward to the challenge each time we meet.
Recently a friend needed help to prepare meals for her disabled son who had been diagnosed with diabetes. We spend an enjoyable afternoon cooking various meals and packaging them for him. Each meal was checked against sugar and carbohydrate content, and we felt we had prepared some meals he would enjoy.
It’s so much easier to cook when you know what you prepare is going to be appreciated and not thrown back at you as sub-standard. That the people you are sharing your meal with are there to not only have dinner but to spend time with you and that has become apparent to me in recent years.
Sometimes I think we could have spaghetti on toast and that would be fine as we enjoy each other’s company so much.
Written for: https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2019/06/20/tale-weaver-228-cooking-20th-june/
Morpethroad 
Very true, glad you enjoy it
Thanks for stopping by 😄
So true. If don’t feel judged then there is no stress in anything.
Were my mother still alive, I would invite you to share a meal she’d cooked … and then you’d never again be ashamed of your own. My kids still refer to her algae soup (cabbage), her minestrone soup (spaghetti bolonaise), the cauliflower best eaten by sucking through teeth, the slab cake with which one could pave the yard (any type of cake), and her rice pudding. The rice pudding is included as the only product of her cooker that was close to edible. (BTW, I did not learn to cook from my mother)
I left out my own mother who may have attended the same school as your mum.
Like it. She didn’t hail from Norfolk, did she?
No Morpeth Road…lol
FIL did all the cooking as MIL hated it and wouldn’t. When he died, she stocked up with prepacked sandwiches from the supermarket rather than buy bad, butter and filling and make h own.
Is that true? For how long did she do that?
Yep, she’d buy a week’s worth at a time, then she got bored and went on to a meals company with hundreds of choices, paying out over £50 a week. Eventually she said she didn’t have enough variety (???!!) as she only liked certain things, so went back to sandwiches, but did progress to plated dinners in the freezer department, or going out to lunch!
Well that’s being true to your word. And expensive 😄
She liked my cooking though, especially once I’d cracked the secret of roast potatoes!
There’s a secret?
I was told to boil my potatoes for 9 minutes exactly, then drain and shake them in the pan before putting them in hot fat and in the oven. Never fails.
I shall try that method. Thanks for sharing that.😄
Oh, yes. This was my experience living at home… Both mother and father very good cooks – but the children always had to clean up. They could taste a bite and tell you all the spices used. I much prefer simple fare and good company! I rather enjoy my own kitchen these days 🙂
Is spaghetti on toast the Australian version of “sloppy joes?” ☺️
When I was little, Iloved it when my father cooked as he made crazy things like frozen french fries cut into pieces and prepared like home fries, baked beans on toast, and lots of bacon. We never told my mother about the lack of veggies on the menu when she was away☺️.
Cooking can be such a wonderful shared experience. Kitchen parties full of warm memories like a gentle hugs.
Thanks for sharing.
Yes I think so. I looked up sloppy joes and it looks similar it’s also the name of a form of sweater we wear.
I like your last line best. Sharing a meal with loved ones is the greatest feeling in the world. It doesn’t matter what the food is.
It certainly is.