Don't feel sorry for my family by just reading the title. I cook well, if not really well. Let me put it this way, my hubbie and I both gain weight :-) and we eat home-made food most of the times **double smile**
I was reading Florussel's post about a sumptuous meal that she and her friends cooked - and it kinda reminded me of the times I ventured into the kitchen (with or without friends) to try my hand at cooking. Wonder why it was fun cooking when you didn't have to (like then) - and the least fun cooking when you have to (like now)! I still remember my mom asking me to help out in the kitchen and those days, I thought kitchen only meant actual cooking. Apparently there are other chores in the kitchen like cleaning and washing - no way!!! I went with full enthu to cook and my mom used to ask me to arrange the washed dishes back into the shelves - I went wild! **start shouting** "What do you mean arrange the vessels? I want to cook! I want to put all those powders 'n all into that kadai and stir it 'n stuff!!! **stop shouting** Mom wouldn't budge - when you start something new, start from the basic and then go to advanced, she would say. I wouldn't budge either (aakhir beti kiski hoon!). And so it ended every single time.
Then comes summer holidays of Class 10: My friend's mom was out of town for a while and we were 4 friends gathered at her place not knowing what to do for time pass. Dont know why we decided to bake a cake! My friend knew all the ingredients 'n all and we went about making the batter. Everything was hunky-dory till we had to put up the oven - we didnt know how to! So we decided to do it using the pressure cooker - fill it sand and then place the cake bowl on it so it will bake and not boil (we were smart enough to know that). Then one of us had a great doubt - "Hey, we're placing the cake mix on sand re! What if the sand gets inside it!! We're making plum cake, not sand cake!!" **everyone slaps forehead** "You're right dee! How could we be so dumb?!! Let's put a lid on it", said my friend. We took a lid, covered it up and placed it on the stove. My friend said we'll know when it's done the moment we can smell the cake. Sure thing! Meanwhile we got out a movie (it was this abomination called 'Spawn' and the print was pathetic).
After a while, there was this smell. Mmmm..**sniff sniff** "Oh dear God, the plastic!!!!!" The lid we chose was made of plastic. And plastic, it seems, does not like being pressure cooked. We opened the cooker to see the lid twisted in half and melting at the edges. No two guesses on how the cake was smelling. But it was made of chocolate - you do not waste chocolate. So we still gobbled it all up! Happily, laughing at what we did. :-) Ah..those were good times! **nostalgic**
My latest experiment? That would be last night. I was in a mood for some soup (tomato if you must ask). So I got this Maggi Tomato Soup thingie and decided to make some for myself (hubbie didnt want). I made a bowl full and had half of it and didn't know what to do with the rest. So you know what I did? I poured it into a small kadai, and added some dal and rasam-powder to it - voila! I had rasam! (it's a south indian second course thing btw). It wasn't as yummy as regular paruppu rasam (dal rasam), but chalta-hai types. Enjoyed it nevertheless (hubbie didnt even want to see it - I dont blame him!).
Cooking is fun if you want it to be fun. But if it's fun you would want to do it more often. If you do it more often, it wouldn't be fun any longer. But it is fun if you want it to be...Ogden Nash's vicious circle it is!
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