The Moment Cooking Became My Music

Many of my friends grew up listening to music, signing to the lyrics of their favorite bands and bouncing to the beat.  Music is singing out loud, at the top of your lungs, humming a tune or making up the words to a song you can’t quite remember. Music is about having fun, it can inspire you to do great things or provide you with an escape; it becomes that momentary break from the chaos and stresses of everyday life, it can be heartbreaking and a myriad of emotions far too deep to simplify with mere words. After all, music is an expression that dances in our hearts. So it goes without saying that music has a huge place in our world – it is a separate entity if you will. A place of nothing else matters to me but this very moment, body jarring, head banging, heart racing, feel good with the ability to  ‘let me escape into my own reality’ of music world. Music evokes emotions, encourages creativity, stimulates and forces us to let go and be free.

As a teenager no matter how hard I tried, I could not fathom the letting go feeling of music nor could I be that girl with the permanent smile splashed across her face while dancing around and singing to great songs. In my mind there was no order or reasoning behind such behavior, there were no directions to follow or limits to set, there wasn’t a precise amount of singing involved and music certainly didn’t require any type of controlled environment. I often wondered then how is it possible that so many enjoy such an activity.  To me music was an escape but an escape into a very foreign world, a place with a functioning reality yet of fantasy and no reality. In my mind the music world existed based on two seemingly opposite ideas together while encouraging and practically forcing a required harmony - a harmony that I had not come to fully understand.

Music did find a place in my heart and eventually I came to terms with a different kind of music. The kitchen has always been my place of music - my escape into a world of creating, transforming, and inspiring others beyond the immediate.

I sought solace in the kitchen amongst the clanging of pots and pans, the whistling of the tea kettle, pounding the chicken until tender, the chopping sounds on the cutting board and the humming of the food processor.  A chorus of bubbling hot cheese, bacon frying on the stove top, the chopping and thumping sounds of potatoes as they go through the food processor. Before long, the band starts up and the room is instantly transformed into a stage with lights, thumping and banging sounds, and an array of musical sounds.

It doesn’t matter to me what I am preparing in the kitchen, something as simple as whipping eggs for a two layer strawberry cream cake or sautéing peppers and onions to go in the pasta sauce somehow excites me. There are many mornings I wake up before the rest of the family just so I can get a head start in the kitchen. Often times I don’t have a clue as to what I am going to prepare. I simply open the cabinets, take a mental inventory of food items on hand and then venture over to the refrigerator to do the same there. Before long I am buzzing around at full speed whipping batter, beating eggs, blending and processing all in an effort to create a culinary work of art … or at the very least something edible. There have been times where I spent hours in the kitchen only to realize I missed an ingredient, added too much of another or I used the wrong ingredient turning the kitchen into a science lab.  Disastrous moments and failed meals only added to my desire to want to learn more about cooking.

I feel a sense of freedom and wonderment when I am creating a new dish, trying out a recipe or even failing at old recipe. I can’t imagine anything more enticing that the ability to walk into a room ‘empty of mind’ and come out ‘full of heart’. To some the kitchen is merely a room in which food is stored, prepared and consumed but to me it is the place I discovered my own type of music.

I am not a trained chef nor have I ever worked in a restaurant or taken a cooking class, I am simply a person who loves to cook.  It is this excitement and heartfelt sense of comfort that I gain from cooking that I want to share with others. Recently I started a cooking club and look forward to not only sharing recipes and hosting events but would like to promote volunteering in the cooking arena. I foresee so many opportunities for our club to assist at food banks or lend a hand at soup kitchens and raise awareness for the importance of healthy food choices. For more information about our club or the upcoming brunch/meeting please visit us at www.thecuttingboardcookingclub.com.