Cooking from the Heart

Since last week, I have cooked three dinners already, with the fourth coming up tonight.  It's really theapeutic to be able to spend the afternoons pottering around in the kitchen - preparing ingredients, cutting up vegetables, etc.  Of course, nothing beats going to the supermarket to satisfy my retail therapy urges:)

Dishes whipped up so far (couldn't remember all):

1. Stewed chicken with mushrooms and carrots
2. Chinese spinach soup with minced meat
3. Pasta cooked in 3 different styles: (1) tossed with pesto sauce, red + yellow peppers, brown mushrooms; (2) Prego portobello mushroom sauce with more portobello mushrooms thrown in; (3) Prego tomato mushroom garlic sauce
4. Lotus root with chicken feet & prime ribs soup
5. Stewed eggplant with minced meat, fried with belacan and dried shrimps

There is this inexplicable joy and pleasure in deciding on the dishes to cook- which involves taking special care to cater to the different preferences of each family member as well as careful selection to create a balanced meal.  Of course, I have yet to master the art of healthy cooking - with less processed stuff and preservatives and learn to rely on natural herbs and spices.

I think what gives joy and meanng is to do everything from the heart.  Approach and handle each task with the spirit of thinking of others or enjoying oneself.  Be courageous to experiment - stretch one's imagination and creativity but also exercise due diligence to do the necessary homework to study the nature of ingredients used in order to bring out the most from them.    Of course, the hard work put in to actually whip up the dishes - these can't be achieved overnight. 

These are lessons that I have also learnt from this Korean drama (Baker King, Kim Tak Gu or Bread, Love and Dreams). 

Cooking, for the family, is about:

• Hard work
• Thinking of Others
• Enjoying Oneself
• Doing it from the Heart

And those who sit down to taste the food can somehow sense the love, care and efforts that have gone into the preparation.  Food cooked this way, even though it's not of Michelin standards, is deeply appreciated and enjoyable.  Nothing more restoring to the weary like returning to a heartwarming meal after a hard long day in the office or school.