Culinary Therapy

Sometimes, I just need to cook something. 

I cook for a lot of different reasons.  Some are practical like making dinner on a Sunday night or baking a cake for a special occasion.  Others are for the purpose of experimenting with new-found recipes or ingredients.  And others are more personal. 

Cooking takes my mind off things but it also helps me think.  It's cleansing, it's enlivening, it's very therapeutic, and that's why I love it. 

I find there are certain recipes that lend themselves more easily to what I'm going to call "Culinary Therapy" than others.  Those recipes would be things that are time consuming but not overly fussy.  Things like risottos, soups, stews, breads, and sauces.

Today, I made tomato sauce.  No recipe, no complicated twist, just ingredients I had on hand layered and seasoned and stirred with love.

Even though you probably already like cooking if you read my blog, for those of you that may still be a little timid, or cook only for practical purposes, I want to encourage you to get in the kitchen.  Spend an afternoon cooking not because you have to but because you want to.  Don't follow a recipe, don't measure ingredients, just have fun with it.  I hope you will.