If the divine creator has taken pains to give us delicious and exquisite things to eat, the least we can do is prepare them well and serve them with ceremony.
–Fernand Point (1897-1955)
I really do love being a 20 something with no chains to the ground and no obligations to the home. I think I love it because I know it won’t last forever.
But dammit, I used to be good at the domestic thing.
My apartment is a mess. My kitchen has empty cabinets. I don’t have anything on the walls and half of my belongings are in boxes, not from my move two years ago, but preparing for any moment making another one.
Flashback to about three years ago when I was in my mid-twenties. I was a home owner, I hosted parties, I cooked and baked with the best! My cabinets were overflowing with new pans and kitchen gadgets from years of collection. I never bought cakes. I never baked cakes from a box, and even looked down on the sheer idea! I was a dessert snob. While making all these decadent dishes, I also became very good at making healthy baked desserts, not easy when you’re going whole-grain, sugar-free and low-fat, but it was accomplished. My home was spotless. I was a clean freak and proud of it.
My career started taking more of my time, which I thought was good and productive for someone at my age. But it’s taken my energy. When I’m at home, I’m either working from home, or in a semi-vegetative state, watching Hulu or reading a book or writing. When I do have some energy, I hit the gym, energy sources are again depleted, and not spent on cooking and cleaning.
I do miss my hobby (not the cleaning part). While over the last few years my enthusiasm for cooking and baking has waned, my mother’s went into hyper drive. Every conversation is about a recipe, an idea or a cookie cutter. My mom never got into Halloween like she did for Christmas or Easter. But, where a dessert idea resides, there she is to take advantage.
My mother also has a demanding career in real estate. She is a qualifying broker and has her own business. Because time is not an infinite resource, the reasonable conclusion would be that Mom had to sacrifice productivity at work for the above cupcakes. After sending me these pictures she also said that she sold three houses.
Dammit. Excuse gone.
I have made great strides, um, well, moderate..uh…attempts at curbing my workaholism in an attempt to preserve sanity and self-identity. I don’t want to be a workaholic who doesn’t bake! I’ll do better.
But first, I have to hit the gym and then work on the computer a bit.
Another Blessed Pilgrimage 