The Childfree Life

Well, I've made one meal and a loaf of bread (in the oven now) since making that very small change to free up a bit more counterspace next to my stove, and I have to say...huge difference.

Instead of traipsing all over the kitchen, trying to ferry chopped onions from one side to the other, I was able to set up a proper prep station right next to my stove and do everything while standing in spot. Seems obvious now, but this has really improved my kitchen mood.

The wife was initially not pleased, but I explained it and she agreed it was probably better. Then I tried out the waters on my next idea...reorganizing the cupboards, essentially swapping the dishes for the pantry items, another step toward getting the food closer to the stove as well.

She actually said, "It's your kitchen...do it however you want," which is a HUGE turnaround from the past, but I'm running with it.

We have a beautiful rustic English cobbler's bench in our kitchen; ideally, it would be a perfect buffet sideboard, but I use it like a very long island, though it's currently cluttered beyond belief, with all my small appliances stored uglyly (is that a word?) underneath.

MrsCO hates that. She's gone for a few days next month, so I'm going to buy a small kitchen shelving unit to store those. She'll be thrilled.

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"There is no bad weather, only bad clothes." - Unknown

If I have nothing better to do, and I've invited my girlfriends over for dinner, then I will happily spend all day searching out a new recipe and cooking something great. When I put my mind to it, I'm actually a pretty decent cook, and I can turn out quality food. But if it's purely for me, then I'm with Dirt Dog and LaT. I have better things to do, and I want to get cooking and eating over and done so I can get on and do them.

I rarely eat out these days. I'm getting really mean in my old age and I simply don't see why I need to spend $30 or $40 on something that's not really much better (in some cases no better) than I can knock up at home.

I've started spending Sundays afternoons doing food prep now, though, and I'm enjoying that. That was mainly driven by starting to track my food, so I knew what was in each meal, but in a couple of hours on Sunday night I can have 10-12 good meals in the fridge and freezer. In the mornings all I have to do is open the door, grab and go. If I come home tired and late from work, I have a balanced dinner ready to roll in a few minutes, no mess no fuss. It's brilliant. My boss tried the pre-made delivery version for a while, but the portions were tiny (I eat a lot with working out) and the cost was about $10 a shot - I can make three or four meals for that if I do it myself.

I'm looking forward to fall, when the crockpot can make another appearance, and make cooking even easier.

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Some people meditate. Some people caffeinate and vegetate.

One other thing I've gotten much better about the last couple of years is not relying on a timer so much, and just judging by looks whether something is done or ready for the next step.

I like baked eggs (made some this morning), and I used to following recipes for the timing, and I'd check it, it'd be undercooked...checked again...undercooked...checked again...overcooked!

Now I just take a peek every so often, I don't worry about 15 minutes at 350F, or 12 minutes at 375F...I just wait for the whites to be a tick past snotty, and out they come, perfect runny yolk every time.

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"There is no bad weather, only bad clothes." - Unknown

Mr LaT approaches cooking like a military operation, everything HAS to be as the recipe states, so it doesn't matter if something is burnt to a crisp, or clearly raw he insists on following the recipe.

I don't know how many conversations we've had that went like this:

Me: that's burning
Him: no it isn't, the recipe says it needs another 10 minutes
Me: but it's going black
Him: Well I don't know what it's supposed to look like, maybe that's the way it meant to be...

<sigh>

After years I've only just got him to concede that there are differences in ovens and timers and the best judge is your own judge i.e. does it look cooked, does it smell cooked, have you stuck a skewer in it and has it come out clean, then it's very probably cooked and fuck the timing in the recipe.

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Too bright to breed

^^^ I used to be that way as far as following a recipe as closely as possible (up to the point of watching something burn ).

My kitchen hero, Jacques Pépin, has stated more than once that you should follow a recipe once, just to get a baseline of what it's supposed to taste like, then experiment from there, until eventually, the way you make it is your own and you don't need a recipe.

I like that.

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"There is no bad weather, only bad clothes." - Unknown

I could have written your post myself! I feel the same way. I wake up excited about what I'm going to cook and I'll cook stuff I have no intention of eating (I did that last week!) just to see how it turns out. I also plan meals while making meals, or while I'm out and about, or while other people are talking to me...
If someone's in the kitchen, they're getting put to work. Chop this onion, stir this pot. Otherwise, get out. Please stop trying to hug me or talk to me. I don't like cooking for other people either because they wolf it down or they salt it right away and then I want to murder them

I've also made recipes at the end of long workdays just because I had a recipe I was itching to make. I try to meal prep on weekends but sometimes, you just have to cook!