The Joy of Cooking

There's at least one person who sometimes reads my blog that will read that subject and get a hearty laugh from it. :) I'm not a cook anymore. I used to be, however I think lack of practice has left me... well... lacking (for err.. uhm .. LACK of a better word).

At ANY rate... I'm not actually talking about food preparation here. I'm getting ready to make an analogy ... a theory about how relationships... all relationships work, in general. It's that newfangled theory I was talking about in my last post (which more than likely everyone else has figured out before me... but since no one else is posting about it, I figure I will).

Consider the idea that relationship events are like preparing a dish. Depending upon the ingredients you have, the amounts you use and whether or not you follow the directions, you'll either get something great... or something more akin to sheep dip.

So... given this idea... what are the ingredients? The ingredients are your attitudes. I can characterize these fairly easily in my mind. Depending upon the attitude you bring into the relationship event, you will either make it a better recipe or one that makes it disgusting. Whenever you have something too bland, you need some spice to give it a little flavor. If it's a dessert you're looking for, then you reach for the sugar if it's not sweet enough. When there's a relationship problem, first thing to look at is your own attitude. Knowing what the recipe calls for and what you have available in the current attitudes will determine whether or not you can make what you want to make.

Of course, you could have too much of one ingredient too... and not enough of another. Or sometimes, a combination of ingredients to balance it all out is what's required. Since the ultimate goal is the final dish, no matter what your favorite ingredient is, remember that no one ingredient is any less important than another.

Okay, you've got the ingredients and you got a pretty good idea of how much to use of each... now what? Follow the directions! Are you supposed to turn up the heat or let it simmer for a while? Does it need to chill? Be Sauteed (be smothered to get it though it's thick skin)? Don't pour the heat on and burn it if it's supposed to simmer for a while or be at a rolling boil. Don't bake it without enough moisture to keep it tender... rather than dry and tasteless.

The best part about this is that if you screw up the recipe the first time, don't assume that you just can't make that recipe happen. Just keep trying until you find the right combination that achieves what works best. Don't assume that because you've not been able to make the right recipe with a friend or a group of friends that you're unable to make anything right. But also make sure that you recognize that when two ingredients don't work well together you remember that they don't. You can't force unsweetened Cocoa and Milk to taste good without adding some sugar in there too. Everyone's got something to offer and what you bring to it can either make it better or make it worse. It's all up to you.

Peas and Carrots,
Jenna