Why I still cook

Why I cook hasn’t changed much or not at all. It is still the same passion for food and wanting to have control over it that keeps me inspired; how it is prepared and for whom are still the reasons that keep the fire burning plus the more obvious ones-to satisfy hunger and live. Let me say with candor that I have been and asked many times questions like “are you going to be a chef’? “Why don’t you open your own bakery or restaurant”? To which my standard reply to the first is Oh no! I would love to but it’s not that easy. And to the second, we’ll see, maybe if and when I win the lottery- which is kind of hard because I don’t buy lottery tickets.

Before, my response would be “I must have been a chef in my past life” and “Oh yeah, I do dream of having my restaurant or a coffee shop or a bake shop with jazz music and a library rolled into one. The name of the place will be “The Breakfast Place etc…” the etc meaning I will be serving not only breakfast. And then I also dream of having my bake shop which I will call “Sweet Thoughts” because I plan on incorporating little sweet surprises in my baked goodies; somewhat like fortune cookie effect but no fortune telling. Instead, little poems or nice and sweet quotes will be inscribed in small pieces of paper stuck somewhere inside a bread or a pie. I wonder if there is such a place like that. The poems will be composed by me of course. Then somewhere in my restaurant there will be a coffee corner where people can also read books from my little collection or just enjoy their coffee and what the bakery has to offer. Gosh then I will be needing a barista too. I can’t be the baker/owner/chef/barista at the same time. And then what about the business aspect of it all? I can’t be worrying about it too when all I want is to serve good food and make people smile after enjoying a wonderful meal.


That’s when I stop daydreaming about a bakery or a restaurant cum library cum coffee shop. But who knows? For now I’ll just enjoy and do what I can – replicating stuff I like from The Best Thing I Ever Ate; try new recipes if time permits and when my mood cooperates; or to entertain or to satisfy my cravings. Join me in my journey to Foodland. Most of you may not be able to taste what I make but I can at least share my pictures and my recipes. Oh, and I still love to hear from you. Any comments or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.