When it comes to kitchens and cooking, are you one who goes bananas with stress? Maybe you've even see TV shows where the main chef screams at the top of his voice with four-letter words at the lowly subordinate cooks.
I'll bet you don't want to be like those poor suckers.
Well, you can cook for fun and pleasure and it does not have to be a long and painful journey before you finally arrive at that fun and pleasure stage in the kitchen or at the backyard barbeque or tailgate party.
Let's begin with the cooking fun.
Did you know that there are many, many men and women around the globe who perform as weekend kitchen warriors or regular cooks or gourmet cuisine artists, or five-star hotel chefs and they absolutely love what they are doing? Instead of feeling like you're a slave to a stove or committed to the heat of a kitchen hell, let's find the excitement that comes as a fore-runner to the eating pleasure experience.
Yes, you guessed it - it's the cooking before the eating.
First, you might want to ask yourself, how do you view cooking at the present time? Whether you like it or not, you need to answer that question.
If you look at cooking as a chore or slave duty, then that's probably exactly how you will find the kitchen experience.
Do you contend that you would rather eat manure covered, broken glass than do the cooking yourself? Swear that you can only boil water? If we start with the thought that you will be able to make several delicious taste tests, or food sampling, which will bring you pleasure along the way, will that help you begin the journey of cooking for fun? The beginning step is to discover things that you will enjoy doing while preparing tasty meals.
The second phase comes easier after you've decided that it would be beneficial to go through a 'kitchen attitude adjustment'.
It's been found that people usually dislike cooking for these reasons: little skill - they don't cook very well; little confidence - they don't believe they can whip up meals that taste good; boredom - everyone knows about boredom; or hate the clean up - they detest the tedious work of washing dishes, pots, pans and putting everything away afterward.
There are multiple solutions to each of these reasons if you are willing to put forth some effort.
In going through phase two, and overcoming the lack of skill in the cooking arena, this can be accomplished by taking a few food preparation classes.
Sounds simple, and is easy, but does take some time and money to join the cooking classes.
At one time, I partnered up with a friend and we bought a dessert cuisine DVD.
It was a blast for me to learn a new skill, even though I had been cooking Mexican food for years.
You will discover that while working with a partner, a lack of confidence hang up will disappear extremely fast.
Soon, you will probably be hosting dinner parties in which your guests can shower compliments.
An important element in hosting a dinner is to plan out the whole meal, maybe even cook it up once with your partner and thus you should remain well within your comfort zone.
I can guarantee that you will amaze yourself if you go to recipe books and follow the procedures of cookbook authors that you can trust.
The third phase is boredom and it is probably the easiest problem to change.
What would you do if you had to watch re-runs of a TV show over and over again? I'm positive you would respond to that challenge and figure out a quick answer.
So make cooking boredom a challenge.
Solve it by doing something different like cooking only Thai, Indian or even (trumpet blast!) Mexican.
Cook meals from total scratch, or use difficult recipes or change your routine of spices and seasonings.
You will find excitement in your kitchen once you begin your cooking for pleasure quest.
The last phase is - the dreaded clean up.
My initial suggestion is to use the 'challenge' system again.
How fast do you think you can complete the clean up? If there are others in your household, another way of finding pleasure is taking turns during clean up.
I prefer doing the cleaning up as a community affair in which everyone pitches in.
Sometimes, we count the dishes and estimate how fast we can do it and then try to 'beat the clock'.
If you are into music, then you might turn up the sounds and try a sing along.
My last suggestion is to clean up as you go along.
When it comes to finding pleasure and fun while cooking, it is really up to you.
I've given you a few hints and suggestions, but if you do not utilize any of them, you may not truly experience the fun and pleasure of cooking.
Some people have even made the comment that cooking can have as much pleasure and be as much fun as...
sex.
I'll let you be the judge concerning that debate.