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Everything I learned about relationships I learned in the kitchen 7/3/2008 4:07:17 AM
One of my favorite shows is a British comedy called "Chef!" Since I have a huge appetite for all things consumable (yes, I did intend the double entendre), the show tickled my fancy immediately. Besides being humorous, there are some culinary merits which schooled me in the cooking arts that I missed growing up and otherwise. But have since more than made up for - People fight over the leftovers in our home.
Anyway, there are two points that stand out today from Chef! The Essential Elements of Cooking: Timing and Ingredients.
My Babe asked me this morning how I got that smoky taste in the chicken spaghetti. I really didn't remember. I'm a mad chef in the kitchen, I'll admit it. I grab whatever "feels" like the right herbs and spices. There's about 20% logical thought, 30% experimentation, and 50% creative passion in what I do. No matter how haphazard it may seem, I do cook with all my heart and with great love.
Which brings me to timing and ingredients. You see, relationships are a lot like cooking. Depending on what you choose, how you choose it, how you use it, and how you do it will determine the outcome. Sometimes we try to rush through some fast food version of satisfaction, instant gratification but far from nutritious, never lasting, a tease of sorts that in an hour of less leaves you yearning for something more. Sometimes becoming no more than a mass to stop the hunger pain until you get to "the real food."
We are such good consumers that we project this mentality onto our relationships. It's a recipe for disaster. Just as the advertisers only want you satisfied until the they can crank out the next product for you to consume, so becomes our love lives - one long list of take out menus and science projects in the fridge.
But if we take the time to have substance, to create something that not only takes care of the hunger, but is an experience all to itself for all the senses, something leaving you yearning for more not out of emptiness but out of fulfillment, then we have become culinary artists instead of remaining short order cooks.
May your life be filled with satisfaction and an everlasting buffet that not only meets your needs but exceeds your expectations and is nurishing for your soul.
