Don’t Cook Distracted

So here’s my cautionary tale. I was in my last year of college. As I shared on our blog several days ago, my chores in our house were shopping and cooking dinner. I decided to treat roommates with a real treat, pork tenderloin. I was able to buy just enough to supply everyone with hearty portions. Remember all my roommates were men.

Well, I started to roast the tenderloin and knew I would have to babysit it. I had an important final coming up, which I was studying for plus I also had a ballet Master Class scheduled from 6:00 to 9:00 every night during this week. I became distracted and the result was overdone and dry, (remember the turkey scene from Christmas Vacation?)

Jim, for the first time in his life stepped into the kitchen. After some slicing, and addition of canned pineapple, chicken broth, onions, and green peppers he had revived the meat to an edible if not fantastic dish. Served it over rice and I went off dancing.

However, every story has a dark under-belly. That night, due to his unexpected success, Jim discovered cooking and I’ve never been able to get him out from underneath my feet, in the kitchen, since. You don’t even want to know what it’s like when Jim, myself, and James (our son and professional Chef) are in the kitchen together. What they say about too many cooks spoil the soup. Not true, soup is always great, just a little harder to produce due to too many opinions.

Jim here: OK, so I got lucky the first time. You know the worst thing that can happen is if you go gambling for the first time and you win and you say, “Gee this is easy!” That’s kind of what happened to me: I got lucky. But what I thought at the time was, “Wow, I’m a natural!” But it did start me on a path that has been one of the most rewarding avocations and has influenced my life in a most positive way. All I can say is follow your passion even if it was only luck that got you started.