The smells. Whether I'm baking dessert or cooking up dinner, I love the smells when I cook. I made soup last night. We had a rare chilly day and I was feeling like I needed something a little toasty warm so I improvised a tomato-potato soup. While I was chopping the onion and the garlic and breaking open the green pepper for its turn I was overwhelmed by how good my kitchen smelled. I just sat there for a minute breathing in really deeply and letting it soak in. I am accosted daily by smells that I would prefer to never smell again and so cooking always brings me to a happy and familiar place. And it is always even more satisfying when the food turns out well.
The soup was SUPER easy. I chopped:
1 clove of garlic
2 Tb. of red onion
1 small green pepper
1 large potato
1 large carrot
and sauteed that in a tablespoon of butter to make it all start smelling good. Then I dumped in one can of Campbell's tomato soup, plus its water, and then added another cup of water and a cup of milk. I decided I wanted the soup to be a little thicker so I added some flour paste while it all simmered and cooked the veggies until tender. Then just salt and pepper.
Once it was done Joe and I decided that it would have been even better with chicken or pasta added to it so I will do that the next time. I probably would substitute some chicken stock for some of the water, but I had none on hand.
After dinner my friend, Katie, came down and we made cookies. MORE good smells. We made Honey Spice Snaps (my Mom's favorite!) and started off eating them almost as fast as we baked them. The longer I am here the more I learn about how to make this apartment really feel like a home, my home, and cooking might be the biggest part of that.
2020 Vision
6 years ago
3 comments:
I love good cooking smells too. If you were wondering- burning pizza burgers is NOT a good cooking smell.
Your soup sounds yummy, especially with some pasta in it. I improvise with existing recipes but admire your ability to improvise an entire recipe.
I love the smell of cooking too. I think that's why Jenn's house always feels like home to me. We arrive on Sunday evenings to the smell of an almost-ready-to-eat dinner. It's fantastic.
Unfortunately, I don't cook. Not right now, at least. I'm sure there will be a phase of my life when I do cook. Right now, I often come home to the smell of cooked oil. (Micah and Nathan make chimichangas, homemade fries, etc.) ...not a great cooking smell.
I'm glad the place is starting to feel like home.
You remind me of the girl in Girl with a Pearl Earring, who enjoyed the sights of cooking: the colors, textures, shapes, etc. I guess I enjoy most the eating, especially if someone else cooks it!
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