cooking as a therapy

[Miss J]

And by the way, is it politically correct to say fireMEN? Aren't there also firewomen-- and if so, what do we call the collective group??Tell me its not firepeople!

I'm sure "fire fighters" pretty much covers all possibilities without making anyone cringe...

[nyfirepatrolchef X]

Hi MSP~

Well, in the firehouses of FDNY its Firefighters.  In the Fire Patrol its Fire Patrolmen...male or (when we had) female.

I work two 24 hour tours out of every 8 days...I usually cook both tours unless I have the Housewatch from 5-8 in which case theyre on their own.  I cook for usually about 6 to 8 people...theres one unit in each Fire Patrol House.  I usually cook a little extra in case someone gets hungry in the middle of the night or in case someone comes back from a job hungry.

In terms of reheating...usually...thats why God invented microwave technology :)

In terms of dietary preferences...in my case it tends to be healthy...but for most fire chefs its not a big thing usually.  In my house its a matter of one guy doesnt eat this, one guy is allergic to that...and being a decent sort I try to accommodate.

[prasantrin]

I have always found cooking and baking (especially baking) to be a great stress reliever. Since returning to Canada from Japan, I find my mother's tiny kitchen to be more stressful than stress relieving, so I have not baked in months, so my stress has nowhere to go. Anyone else ever have that problem?

[Kerry Beal]

I have always found cooking and baking (especially baking) to be a great stress reliever. Since returning to Canada from Japan, I find my mother's tiny kitchen to be more stressful than stress relieving, so I have not baked in months, so my stress has nowhere to go. Anyone else ever have that problem?

Nothing worse than a poorly laid out kitchen - especially if it isn't yours and you can't rearrange it to suit you. Really makes you want to avoid using it.

Yet I can bake on the boat - in a galley that's about 3 feet by 3 feet - but that's just because I have it laid out to my liking and of course have all my baking pans and stuff tucked all over the place in various locker spaces.

[Rover]

The therapy of cooking is unlike any other, except maybe harvesting herbs, flowers & vegetables from your own garden or planters. It's being in your own space, listening to your own music (whether opera or the sound track from The Big Night) and conjuring up something with your hands that wasn't there when you started. I read something somewhere years ago regarding risotto and the necessity to gear down as you stirry, stirry, stir, stir, stir. There's something harmonic about it which I've never forgotten and I think of it every time I make risotto.

Somehow cooking provides a very necessary balance and for me, it's simply not possible to worry about the trials of the working day as I become involved in cooking/baking ... creating food. The music is an essential part of the process, too.

[pen_h]

I've been accused of buying any book I see with "food" or "cooking" in the title. And that might be true. Here's one I bought some time ago - Cooking as Therapy by Louis Parrish, M.D., 1975. Contents include: The Compulsive Cook; Accepting Failure; The Cooking Compromise; The Psychology of Leftovers; Using Hostility; Shopping Therapy; Releasing Tension in the Kitchen; Pounding and Hacking; Preventative Eating; Role-Playing in the Kitchen; The Seduction Dinners,; Cooking As Tranquilizer; The Elusiveness of Perfection

He's got some interesting points - such as that if you're down, you shouldn't try a new recipe - if it fails you'll be even more depressed.

[Liam O'Malley]

Cooking is definitely therapeutic for me, but I agree with what others have said in that it really depends on what your interests/hobbies are. I can see how some might view it as a chore.

I will admit too, on occasion, there are times when I have not begun cooking in which the effort to start doing so seems very onerous... but nearly without fail, once I actually get over that and start going to work, something magic happens while I've got my knife in my hands.