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December 15, 2004
The joy of cooking
Over the past several years, Tom and I have gradually developed a new hobby: cooking. When it's just the two of us, we each tend to cook just for ourselves. He goes in for steaks & chops; I favor soups and stir-frys. But we've discovered the fun of cooking for guests, especially undergraduates. They're old enough to carry on good conversation, and young enough to liven up the house. And of course they appreciate something other than dorm chow. So we get a lot out of their company; they keep us from being two aging people living alone. Mostly it's Colgate students, because the trip to our house is a short one for them. It's students Tom has had in class and often basketball players. (He's been faculty advisor to the women's team for many years.)
In addition to enjoying their company, we're also discovering that cooking is becoming a hobby for us. We'll spend all afternoon in the kitchen preparing one of these meals. This evening it was ham, broccoli, rice, biscuits, lemon sauce, Waldorf salad--and Tom made some amazing cream puffs from scratch. So Tom and I get a square meal ourselves; we get the pleasure of the company of what I feel compelled to call youngsters; and we get the pleasure of cooking. Time was when we'd get cranky and anxious when preparing for guests; now it's a celebration. "Hobbies" tend to be things that one consciously chooses and practices, but sometimes one's joys just sneak up from behind, and all of a sudden, you recognize them.
Posted by senioritis at December 15, 2004 08:41 PM