Artistry of Cooking - Banu's Epiphany #1

Artistry of Cooking ---- I always thought I hated cooking or thought that I had to cook because I had to and not because I wanted to. But I was talking with Jen about this topic today and had a epiphany about this. My brain considers Cooking to be an art form. So, I need time, energy and freedom to create whatever I want. As soon as there are rules put in about how much fat I can add, how much of calories the dish should be and what not....the art dies and it becomes a chore and then it becomes one of those Have To Do list. Then I lose interest in cooking and I am like I can eat whatever and it does not feel fun to cook!! Sometimes I want to be like one of those celebrity chefs who have this superb cool Kitchens, they do not have to clean after cooking and they do not have to watch what they put into the dish..

Following my epiphany, I started to think how can I make cooking interesting even with all my rules about it and figured out a few simple things that can help me,

1. Try to cook with colorful food, so even if you cook it with little or no oil, it still appeals to the artist within you
2. Try to use fancy ingredients that does not add any calories or fat to your dish, but still makes you feel nice about cooking. I added some Oregano and Lemon Pepper to my Chayote Squash Curry..making me feel nice about the creating part.
3. Last but not the least, I figured out that I felt good if I put the cooked food in a nice serving bowl or tray before I ate it. Even though the food was not up to my own high expectations - the nice display made up for it.

Thanks for stopping by and please leave comments about your own thoughts about this.

Mnemonics

I was working on a card challenge that needed me to incorporate all colors of a rainbow. Immediately, I thought of VIBGYOR. This is how I used to remember the colors of Rainbow. VIBGYOR is a Mnemonic. Mnemonic is a method or an aid to remember some complex lists or details. The term covers a wide variety of memory aids, but is now often used as a synonym for acronyms. Even though it means that you need to know what the individual letters of the Mnemonic means, once practiced, this can be an effective way of remembering lot of complex details.

Another Mnemonic that I know is HOMES to remember the names of America's Great Lakes (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior)

I could not think of any other Mnemonics...:) If you remember any, please do let me know.

I choose to go with Faith

"I choose to go with Faith. Because without it I am nothing. Faith is all I have"

This is a dialogue from Prison Break Television Series. The "Hero" Michael Scofield tells this to his girlfriend. Somehow this dialogue struck a chord with me. So many times you are doubting your decisions, your journey of life, the paths you took, the decisions you made. There are times when you are frustrated and asking "why me" questions. The only way to prevail and go on with life I guess is to have Faith. I am not talking about blind faith, just sit around and do nothing, but more about having Faith that things that are meant to will happen and if you are a good human being, good things will for sure happen to you despite having to go through some trials and tribulations.

So, I choose to go with Faith.

OSJ for Friday August 6th, 2010

Addicted to the Television Series "PRISON BREAK"!!!!!!!