cooking

My friend uploaded this photo of me in my element onto facebook earlier today. I saw it
and two thoughts immediately came to mind:

A) I so completely love that t-shirt.
B) I am doing what I love doing best--cooking.

Then, I thought:
C) I am doing what I love doing best--cooking for people.



Most days, after school, I:
1) Put crunchy taco shells into the oven to crunch up even more.
2) Cook a black bean veggie burger in a pan.
3) Mash up an avocado with plain yogurt and HEB's Ranchero salsa.*
4) I put 2 and 3 into 1 and top it off with HEB Mexican
shredded cheese mix.
and
5) Eat it.

Some weeks, I this happens five times.

I LOVE CRUNCY TACOS. I honestly cannot think of words that emphasize how
much this is true.

However, I love cooking. I don't consider steps 1-5 above to be cooking. I
consider it 'assembling', kind of like what Rachel Ray does. There is, of course,
nothing wrong with assembling; it is its own thing, as highlighted by the following
analogy:

assembling : cooking : : DJing** : songwriting/composing



The dilineation between the two approaches to meal preparation (All cooking is
meal preparation. Not all meal preparation is cooking. It might be assembling, or
even chopping) having been made, I return to thought C, above, "I am doing what
I love doing best--cooking for people."
I would NEVER assemble a meal for guests. I rarely cook for myself. I have time to
cook after school; considering that I find it relaxing, one would expect that I would
cook after a day of insanity. I just, well, I don't. I don't cook for myself. I know what
X + Y will taste like together, whether I've tried it or not. It's like DJing (And this is
where the analogy falls apart, so don't try to extend it to this point. The metaphor
works, though.)--I don't do it so that I can hear the songs together. I do it so
someone else can. I don't care if you like the taste or the transition. I offer the
juxtaposition of flavors and sounds because that is why we have flavors and
sounds--so that we can share them.

It is truly the most lonesome thing, to cook without someone else to feed.

A person can only have so many one person dance parties. Sooner or later, you pull
out some old school Bright Eyes. And you listen one day, and the next, and the next.

But if you ask for a mix cd, I will offer you clear, often unexpected, progression
from one song to the next. I will brown the onions to soft perfection, add spices
until it smells right, and listen for when the simmering slows into a rolling boil.





*When I leave Texas, I will miss this most.
**By DJ, I don't mean turntablist, who I believe, to continue with my metaphor,
adapt others' recipes to their own. In that sense, I'd say I'm more a turntablist
than a songwriter in the kitchen. In terms of music, though, I'm a DJ.***
***Does this make sense anywhere outside my own brain?