cooking up a storm!

Yes I've always known I love to cook, but I've come to the realization lately that I can truly call it a hobby- something I do for fun, a distraction from work, and something I like putting time into. And not just for the outcome, but also because I just love being in the kitchen, chopping and sauteing and simmering away.

Last week I'd decided that one of my nights of spring break, I'd cook a fabulous meal, inspired by the chocolate souffle recipe in last month's Bon Appetite. I decided on sweet potato gnocchi and the souffle for dessert, with salad on the side. The gnocchi were a pain to make, because I did too much sweet potato and not enough regular potato (I was going for flavor but forgot how STICKY the darned things are), and I was afraid that in the end they'd just taste like flour. I used my little gnocchi roller that Mom gave me a few Christmases ago, cooled them in the freezer for a bit, then served them up with truffle oil and shaved Parmesan. Well, they were delicious! Not at all heavy our flour-ful, just tasty and light, the way gnocchi should be. The hard work paid off! And there were a bunch left over that are now happily awaiting my mouth for a future date in the freezer.

The souffles.....ahh, the souffles. I don't have egg beaters, so beating egg whites was hard. I tried using my stick blender....but the two egg whites were too shallow, so I tried doing it by hand, which was tiresome, so I put them in a mug (yes, a coffee mug) and went back to the stick blender....I used that until the poor thing almost overheated and then I had to call it quits. I barely had soft peaks? Oh well. In the end, they tasted great but rose....maybe 1/2". Whatever. Next time, egg beaters.

Anyway! The point of this entry was to talk about how much I've realized I like cooking. I look forward to it as a break from homework every night, and put more effort into it than most of my peers. Even when it's frustrating, I like it. I used to feel rather hobby-less when introducing myself to people, but now I proudly tell them that I love cooking :)