As I mentioned in my previous post, I started doing some Christmas baking this week.Yum! When I have some free time (aka naptime, bedtime) I turn on the Christmas tunes, make a cup of tea and measure, mix and bake away. I love to cook. I find it very relaxing. It's right up there with reading and a hot bath for me. There's something about busying the hands that allows your mind to relax and let go of stress. It can be cathartic to let your mind go on autopilot and just follow the steps laid out for you. And as long as you follow those steps, you (usually!) end up with a great result.
There's a quote by Julia Child in one of my favourite movies Julie & Julia... "Some people like to paint pictures, or do gardening, or build a boat in the basement. Other people get a tremendous pleasure out of the kitchen, because cooking is just as creative or imaginative an activity as drawing, or wood carving, or music."As I've become more comfortable in the kitchen though, I've found myself straying from the recipe a bit and becoming more creative. Cooking for Wesley has also spurred this creativity as well. Thinking about what flavours to combine or how to make certain foods appealing to him.
A recipe is safe, but there's the potential for something amazing when you launch out on your own! I didn't mean for this to be a cheesy analogy for life, but that really does extend beyond the kitchen as well. It's so easy to get stuck in a rut of the same-old, same-old and to stay in our comfort zone. Life is busy, it's complicated, it's so much easier to just stick with what's safe and comfortable - our friends, our routines and habits etc. Now that I'm a stay-at-home mom, I think the potential for living in that comfort zone is even greater (for me anyway!) so I've been challenging myself to do one new thing every week. Whether it's checking out a new play group, or starting up a conversation with another mom at the mall. You never know what might come out of it - it could be something delicous like the sweet potato soup we had for dinner last night!
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