My Food Network show would be called “Tired Chef”

One of the things I’m trying to commit to doing this year is cooking more. Not cooking better, you understand, at least not at first. Just cooking more, for the sake of doing my part.

I’m not what you would call a “food guy.” I like a good meal, but I don’t have a Twitter or Instagram account that I flood with boring pictures of lunch. Not that I’m judging the people who do, because after all, human history will do that for me.

What I do have is a need to eat well, a limited budget, a busy schedule, and a wife in the same boat. For someone with limited experience and talent in the kitchen, this is a good thing. I don’t have the skill or the patience to create an exotic feast for the senses, but I sure can cook a simple meal in large quantities, and then shove the bulk of it in the freezer for the week ahead.

Today, for example, I made a really basic gazpacho. As a chilled soup that you don’t even need a stove to prepare, it barely counts as cooking. But it’s one of my few standard recipes, partly because you can make it in bulk in less than an hour.

And truth be told, I’m starting to enjoy the time I spend in the kitchen. I don’t take very many risks in there, mainly because I don’t want to botch a recipe that’s expected to feed my family a few times over. We’ve still got half a freezer full of a really bland potato chowder I made a couple of weeks ago, and I’ve been eating the remainder myself, mainly as a penance.

But as I build my repertoire, and my confidence, who knows what I might achieve? Why, I might even become a decent cook someday!

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