Cooking, in my case baking, is one of the few contemporary endeavors where we can see the end. We can look down at the final product and say “I did this.” Try saying that during your quarterly performance reviews.

It’s a great feeling and one of the reasons that I continue to cook.

Corey
Almondine Bakery
Brooklyn, NYC

The long answer is because it provides me with an outlet for my creative and artistic desires, while producing something substantive and useful that many of my friends either cannot or choose not.

Cooking great meals for my family and friends is second nature to me now and I truly enjoy watching them devour one of my meals.

Since moving to Portland from Philly, I’ve become more aware of what I’m eating and how I’m eating it, and this has shown in my cooking.

Over the past year, I’ve ripped out my front yard and put in raised beds for gardening, started pickling tons of veggies, and have been buying whole animals and butchering them. I’ve also recently started making charcuterie, with the help of your book, and have had some great successes already.

I’ve seen you on Anthony Bourdain’s show a few times, and if you’re like him, I’m the kind of guy you’d want to hang out with next time you’re in Portland.

I’m likely to sneak up on you in a parking lot, brandishing a spicy lonzino, jar of pickles, and a bottle of some type of liquor I distilled and infused with some kind of local fruit or nut at home. You’d think I’m crazy ( which I just could be ), but you’d get a great taste of local flavor, and then I’d pour you a glass of Oregon Pinot Noir or a pint of IPA, all made by my friends and fellow Oregonians. After a few hours of drinking and eating, you’d wake up in your hotel room the next day, covered in stripper glitter and say ” Wow.. I really love Portland!!”

The invitation is open.

All the best.

Todd

I noticed this when my wife and I stopped into Wendy’s when we were in a hurry one night. It occurred to me that I could have put a steak dinner on the table for a little over half what I spent on one hamburger and one chicken burger combo.

http://absurdcafegirl.blogspot.com/2010/02/why-i-cook.html

Life leads us down different paths and over the past 3 years I lived in Hong Kong and learnt how to master intermediate Chinese cooking, which I might add I was passionate about. Getting ready to move back to my own country for good, I suffered a head injury and unfortunately lost my ability to taste and smell. As one could imagine, I am devastated. Cooking now is that bit more challenging as I used to rely on my senses to determine whether something was cooked or not just by its smell. It is 3 months since my accident and I may regain my senses again but it is unlikely. Currently, I am in denial but I continue to throw myself into my cooking as I can see the enjoyment in my children’s faces when they sit down to eat something amazing. Even though I have feelings of sadness every day, I also now rely on my children more than ever to help me out when I’m cooking as I can no longer tell if something is watery or whether it needs more sugar or salt. Food these days does not contain any flavour only texture. Cooking is also particularly hazardous for me if something is burning or the gas is left on! I love my children to bits and am all the more determined to make meal times a happy and memorable experience for them. So to sum things up, from my perspective, cooking is made all the more pleasurable if you have all 5 senses!

The (slightly) longer version is that last year, after years of abuse and repressed emotional issues, I went to a 4+ month rehab here in Jersey. As the program was free of charge, it relied heavily on a work-therapy style aspect of treatment. I was placed to work in the kitchen. While I was learning to live a drug-free, mentally stable life, I was also learning to cook.

For me, the act of cooking is inseperable from the recovery process. Every time I cook, I am reminded of not only my new life, but also of what it took to get here. I had never made a cooked a meal before in my life. Two completely new things became intertwined, and led to a second chance at life.

I know where I came from, and I know that I never want to go back. Cooking helps me remember all this, and propels me forward into a brighter future.

It’s amazing and wonderful that you took that denial and turned it around into such a positive element of your life.