I don’t know if I knew how to use the microwave until I was 11 or 12. Sad. Lately, I’ve been into cooking though. I bought a pot, and a pan, and actually use them. (Crazy, right)
I started cooking because the food options around me got a bit tiring, and sometimes I just don’t want to leave my apartment in 0 degree weather. It helps that I live above a target, so when I need a kitchen utensil and ingredients I’m within easy reach.
It turns out that cooking is fun, at least sometimes. It gives me the same sense of pride in building things that I get from programming, but I don’t have to stare at a screen (unless I’m looking up a recipe). It requires attention, but it’s also a bit mindless and free. I can listen to a podcast or an audiobook while I’m stirring a pot of sauce or cooking an onion.
The parts I don’t like are pretty guessable. Cleaning up (and washing dishes) is a pain. Cooking and cleanup require a good deal of time (and preplanning ingredients). Those two things detract from the spontinaety of it.
Still, it’s a really enjoyable use of time so far, and I look forward to exploring it more in 2017.
Here’s some fresh pasta I made from scratch (as in, from the flour to the bowl).