Contrary to what my unmotivated side thinks, I love to cook. Baking, not so much, but I will attempt it from time to time. In some ways, I am a self taught cook. I’m no Gordon Ramsey by any means, and sometimes the meals I attempt don’t quite work out as planned. And let’s be real, no one enjoys the clean up afterwards. I have some cooking goals for the year and I figured if I share them with enough people, perhaps that will hold me a bit more accountable to reach them, even if others think they sound silly.
Cookbook Obsession
Before we talk about cooking goals, let’s talk about cookbooks. I love cookbooks. It is a borderline obsession. As I mentioned in the intro, I’m mostly self taught. Sure, I took home ec in junior high (I guess now it’s called middle school) but other than that, I learned to cook by using cookbooks. I got my first cookbook from my dad as a gift, and thus the obsession started. Every time I would go into a store and see cookbooks, I would pick the one that sounded the best, bring it home, and try a few recipes. So far so good, right? Well, here is where the obsession starts. I would have to go back to the store for ingredients, buy another cookbook, and forget about the ones I already had. Before I knew it, I had over 10 cookbooks and I wasn’t really using them.
Reigning it In
This went on for a while and one day while I was in my devotions, I felt like God was telling me to put a halt on buying cookbooks. He challenged me to finish every recipe in one cookbook before I bought another one. Challenge accepted. Well, I never completed it, forgot about it, and ended up getting cookbooks for Christmas. Fast forward a few years and I was dating the guy I was last with. He was a diabetic and I was worried that I wouldn’t know how to cook for him. Well, guess what I found in the store? Yup, I diabetic cookbook. I reasoned that it would be fine because I wasn’t buying it for me after all. I did give it to him, but somehow it ended up back with me. Oops. Actually, now that I think of it, I purchased a reset package a few years ago and that included a cookbook. Oh dear.
The New Deal
Well, after I bought the diabetic cookbook, God and I were talking and he reminded me of the “cookbook agreement”, for lack of a better term. I argued that the diabetic cookbook was for my boyfriend at the time. He pointed out that I never actually used it to cook for him, therefore, I didn’t actually buy it for him. Admitting I was wrong, we came up with a new challenge. I now had to complete two cookbooks before purchasing another. However, now with my new revelation that I actually purchased two cookbooks, I think I need to make it three. I have a lot of work to do with my cooking goals.
Why?
Some of you are probably sitting there scratching your heads and wondering why I would do such a challenge, and why I believe God would even give me this challenge. I honestly believe it’s a bit of a fun challenge that we have, and God wants to be a part of every aspect of my life, so why wouldn’t he want to be a part of my passion for cooking. To be clear, I love cooking for friends and family. I do not enjoy working in a restaurant, and never plan to return to that sort of work. I also want to do this challenge because I love trying new food, and finding a few staple favourites. So, in short, I’m doing this for fun, good food, and now, great blog content.
Cooking Goals
So, what are my cooking goals? I’m sure you can figure that out. I want a new cookbook. Therefore, I need to get to work and make lots of food. The best part of this challenge: I get to use it as a teaching experience. My one coworker has to bring her daughter to work every Tuesday. I’ve formed a friendship/big sister type relationship with her and we have started a little tradition. Every Tuesday we make a new recipe. This is great for two reasons. One, she gets to learn how to cook from another adult, other than her parents. Two, she gets to experience new foods that she might not try otherwise. Her mom loves it, and so far, she has loved it too.
Because of these cooking sessions, I’ve been able to knock down a few recipes in my cookbooks. I have informed her that she can pick the next cookbook I purchase, and she has already picked one out that she’s excited for us to try. However, we both know that we have a lot of work to do, and now even more so. There are lots of recipes that I’ll have to tackle without her. She is not a fan of seafood and every cookbook I have has a seafood section. I’m excited about that.
Cooking Goals Part 2
Now, you’re probably wondering how she picked our target cookbook so fast. Well, I have a huge love of the cookbooks from Company’s Coming. The food is good, sometimes unique, and there are so many different kinds. They actually have a website with all their current cookbooks. I’ll link it below. My goal is to own every single Company’s Coming cookbook, with three exceptions. There is a cookbook on cheese based recipes and one that appears to be ice cream focused. Due to my dairy allergy, I won’t be buying those. Then there is one that is all quinoa based recipes. Try as I might, I don’t like quinoa. It actually makes me gag. So, those cookbooks I will not be putting in my collection. Any quinoa recipes that are in the cookbooks I own I substitute the quinoa with couscous or rice.
Interested in Regular Updates?
I’m thinking that once a month I’ll update you all on the progress that I’ve made with my challenges. You may even get to see some of the food I make in the Friday blogs, or if you follow me on social media. Since I want to post regularly, some of the stories will feature the food I’m eating. I’ll link my socials below so you can follow me, if you’re not already. I will try and get links for my socials on my main page, but right now I’m still trying to figure it all out. Web design is not my strong point. Well, it should be a fun and delicious journey as I work towards my cooking goals. I wonder how many cookbooks I’ll get to buy this year. More than one I hope. Anything can happen, if I try.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090148946844https://
www.instagram.com/lifew.ithstephanie/
