My mother taught me how to cook. I mostly made cookies and things like that when I was a kid, but I really enjoyed it. I also learned a bit from both of my grandmothers, but that was very specifically related to Thanksgiving foods.
I became a vegetarian in my early 20’s. That’s when I really started cooking. No one in my family is a vegetarian so I kind of had to learn all about that kind of thing on my own and from a few veg friends. Then in my 30’s is when I really started to get very excited about cooking and cookbooks and trying new foods and trying new restaurants.
And now, since all of the food network and cooking channel stuff have been so prolific, that has really upped my interest in all things food. I love to cook, I love kitchen gadgets, I love cooking programs, I love fixing new things for my family’s potlucks and for Xmas and Thanksgiving. And I don’t just cook, I clean up the mess too! And I enjoy going grocery shopping, which most people hate. For me, that is like a planning process. I can spend a couple of hours in the grocery store. I’m not a binge buyer, though. I really plan things out so that if I’m going to buy, say basil, I will plan several meals around an ingredient so that it doesn’t go to waste. I’m pretty good at planning a week’s worth of meals and stocking my pantry with staples that can be used to quickly throw something together.
I truly enjoy cooking and find that cutting vegetables and preparing a meal is very calming for me. It helps me to feel balanced and centered. I love going out to eat at restaurants, but I would feel deprived it I couldn’t cook often.
I wouldn’t go so far as to call myself a foodie, though. I really don’t like that term. It suggests a professional, or a snobby kind of person. As though, regular people aren’t foodies.
I would call myself a food enthusiast!