Watch Out, Your Genius is Burning

I generally consider myself a creative person.  I have at least sixteen different ideas for stories written in my various journals, ready to be pulled out, polished, and set to paper.  My problem-solving skills are good, even if my ideas are sometimes a little out there.  I can make a puzzle out of any sheet of text, and though I can’t draw at all, I can get around that with geometric patterns that come out looking very cool (to me anyway).  But put me in front of a well-stocked refrigerator, and I’m lost.

Cooking is truly an art form, and becoming more and more so every day.  With the increasing complexity of microwave dinners, a real, honest-to-goodness made-from-scratch meal is a rarity and a joy.  It takes time, careful attention, and skill, and still a small miscalculation can lead to flames leaping out of the oven.  The word “homemade” implies a very great gift.

Unlike other art forms, however, cooking does not require full knowledge of the basics before one can experiment.  I’m still fuzzy on how to sauté, simmer, or julienne anything, though they are all marvelous verbs.  But today I made very good nachos with meat and “homemade” queso, the latter created by melting wedges of Happy Cow cheese with a bit of milk.  Maybe that’s not really cooking—“alchemy” is probably a better word.  But it tasted pretty good to me.

I’m just a beginner, though.  Over the years I’ve watched my younger brother and older sister dig through a fridge I had judged devoid of anything edible, and come up with quick snacks that looked and smelled marvelous—cheesy bread with herbs, pretzels and Nutella.  This kind of creativity can make something new and delicious out of something old and/or not aesthetically pleasing.  It’s not something that comes easily to me, and more and more these days I appreciate it in others.

Someday I want to be able to cook for real—to take fresh ingredients (“real food” says my mother with a sneer for the dried and frozen things I bring home from the store) and make them into edible and attractive dishes.  In the meantime, however, I will experiment and make messes and eat what I create no matter whether it’s good or bad or sick-making.  After all, that’s the best way to learn.