Cooking for two

[kitewithfish]

Does cooking drive anyone else mad? I've just cooked (rather hectically) a dinner for my Gentleman's birthday- it went over quite well, but in the last minutes of wrapping up his present while he hid in the kitchen, I left the first batch of rice to burn and undercooked the bok choy. (In my own estimation- the Gentleman approved of them.)

I don't get this way when I cook for myself, but on the other hand, when I was for one, I hardly ever experimented. I defaulted to humus and veggies or pasta more often than not. But when other people are involved I feel pressured to book more and better, and to try new things.

Comments

[mab_browne]

I love and adore cooking so much that my family can tell what night of the week it is by the dinner their loving wife and mother presents to them. I do try out the occasional different thing according to what's on special at the supermarket but that's about it.

[littlecatfeet.livejournal.com]

Cooking for other people is both a trial and a joy to me - I LOVE seeing other people enjoy my food, and give me compliments on it. But I get really stressed out that it won't be good enough, or fancy enough, or that my taste will align imperfectly with theirs.

My solution has been to cook a lot and experiment with Katherine (who will eat what I cook even if it's not stellar) and to develop stand-bys that are delicious and impressive for company. The downside to that approach is that it requires a lot of cooking and trial and error, which is annoying if you don't enjoy the process much to begin with.