Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Leftovers
Have you ever got home really late at night and opened your pantry for a great midnight meal to find less than stellar selection of ingredients You may or may not have been drunk, so these nights can be hard to recall. It is something that sparks creativity in myself and many others who have gone on this cooking adventure with me. It was always something I had to do when I was a child because I loved to cook but my mom was cheap as all get out and there was never anyone in the house who was willing to let me drive at the ripe age of 10. I made mac and cheese with no milk, grilled cheese with no grill, lasagna with taco seasoning. The list is endless. This motivation in a kitchen with no food trickled over into my adulthood. My most creative evening was an evening at the ripe age of 20 or so. I was thinking about a ham sandwich all night. I was going to toast the bread, put tomatoes and lettuce on it with mayo and top it off with a bit of italian dressing. So good. You can imagine how boring my life must have been if I was thinking about a ham sandwich at a party on a Friday night. When I got home I realized we were out of bread. That made me so sad...did not stop me though. There had to be something. Tortillas? Pita? Enough flour to make my own bread? Too ambitious. Then I found it. Frozen waffles. Done. Then I had to make the hardest choice of my young life. Butter or mayo? I went with Butter. Right or wrong? You won't know until you try it I guess.
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Hi Blanch! I really enjoyed reading your discussion post for this week. I thought the way you wrote about creativity was extremely hilarious yet informative! At first, I was wondering how your personal experience would relate to the readings on creativity in the text. As I kept reading, I realized that your personal story on your adventures of cooking does indeed fall under the category of creativity explained in the text. I really liked how you emphasized the usage of creativity when it comes to cooking (drunk or not)! We may or may not notice the particular ways we use creativity until we reflect on our day-to-day rituals in a more "educational" way. I noticed that you described your way of cooking as a way you practice creativity. I thought that your examples of cooking certain things in a "not so normal way" were in fact great ways in excercising your ability in being creative. These alternate ways of cooking shows that no matter what problems we are faced with in a group setting, there isn't just one way of doing it but there are multiples if you just expand and explore your other options. This definitely helps in a group setting because most people like to do things the "normal" way which defeats the process of creativity. I'm sure that you are able to bring out lots of ideas to the table that aren't considered the norm. Overall, I loved the metaphorical language you used with cooking and creativity. I think you did a great job in showing us that creativity can come from either the kitchen or classroom.
ReplyDeleteHey Blanch!
ReplyDeleteThis post was really fun to read! Your unconventional ways of cooking are great examples of creativity. To be honest, if I wanted a sandwich, but I did not have any bread, I would have starved. Plain and simple. That ability to use the resources available to you and improvise recipes that would work is a very useful skill in all walks of life. It's like what we read in the book earlier this semester about how there is more than one way to pursue or accomplish the same task. I think in order to find various ways to accomplish something, as well as finding a way that suits your strengths and resources, takes a strong sense of creativity and critical thinking.
Cheers!
Hi Midwest Digress,
ReplyDeleteWow, this was such a great post! Even your writing style shows creativity and that you are clearly someone who likes to think outside the box. I like the direction you took this post as the thought of making creative midnight snacks had never crossed my mind; however, I can definitely relate! At my grandma’s, I used to make grilled cheese by first toasting the bread, then putting the cheese on and melting it in the microwave… works like a charm! Also, when my friend and I were much younger we used to put v8 juice on pasta as if it were a substitute for marinara (ew). I have never tried the ham and waffle creation but I definitely agree that butter was the better choice.
Hey Midwest Disgress, you sound like a real adventurous foodie. Wow! You have fabulous ideas to substitute conventional food items like bread with tortillas and waffles. Believe me I can never think of such substitutes. Creativity is not confined to art, but it can be used in any field of our day-to-day life to spice the mundane routine. Since you are interested in food, I would like to share with you what I saw on Food network sometime back. I had seen a chef barbequing watermelon, which sounds weird, but it looked really nice. As you said until you try new combinations in food, how would you know what tastes good and what not.
ReplyDelete