My pastime..

Whilst chatting with my friend on msn, we came up with this grand idea of coming up with a topic to write about and we’d both write and post it. No competition, just for fun, and also to see our different point of views. So exciting! She came up with the first topic. Pastimes. Sounds like a primary school composition topic, but it’s just something to get us warmed up with, and to get the ball rolling I guess.

I’ve liked one thing, which is cooking as well as baking, and this has stayed with me for the longest time. Many pastimes have just come and gone so very swiftly. The inspiration for me comes from the pictures I see in food magazines or recipe books. I’m such a sucker for good photography. And if the recipe doesn’t come with a picture, I’d imagine the look of it as well as the taste. My friend once said that I’d attempt the most laborious dishes, like the time when it took me 3 hours to cook dinner when she thought she could eat within one hour. =)

With cooking, I just love the way each ingredient has it’s own flavour, but when combined with the rest, develops a wonderful taste or aroma, or how a single ingredient gives a whole new dimension to the taste. And most of all, I get to eat it all up! However, cooking wasn’t a skill I picked up until I came to Australia. Back then I couldn’t even boil rice! Equipped with no skills, I had to improvise and create dishes for my meals being away from home. I’ve now learnt to enjoy it a lot more than it just being a chore.

When I was a kid, I used to love it when my mum takes the cake mixer out, to make a cake, or cookies. I would sit by the kitchen counter and help her pour ingredients in, like one egg at a time, or scoop the flour in for as she is folds the mixture. I never attempted a full recipe because she said that folding the mixture is a delicate process, and it can make or break the whole recipe. So all I did was watch.

One day, I was alittle more gutsy, pulled out her recipe books when she was at work, and wanted to attempt a butter cookie recipe, but to my horror, the word ‘fold’ was in it. I went ahead and attempted it, tried folding as well. And it came out perfect! I love how the first time I attempted my apple pie, and I weaved the top instead of the plain flat cover. It was really REALLY time consuming, but I felt so rewarded when it was ready to eat! It may sound funny, but it’s so exhilarating when I find a recipe that interests me, and my heart beats faster when I start on it! =)

Sadly, however, I don’t have too much time or energy on my hands to try too many new things, so it’s just the once in a while attempts, but there will still be attempts, and when there are none, I'll be going through recipe after recipe...=)

P.S. I played cooking Mama on the Nintendo Wii over the weekend...apparently i don't cook too well on that. My pasta in squid ink apparently looked like Hokkien mee. =P