Revving Up The Creativity

I used to cook quite a bit but that cooking was a little different.  Our dog ate home not commercial - well balanced, scrutinized by a vet, but home cooked just the same.  Since Rourke passed after a happy fifteen years, I haven't cooked much of anything, my husband is a great cook so I eat well.  But even though I don't cook, or didn't - we're not sure how this is going to go, don't get me wrong, I do other things, like - clean the house - yuck.  Ok and a bunch of other stuff I won't bore anyone with.  But none of it including and especially, the cleaning, take any creativity and sometimes you need something creative that isn't writing fiction just to get back to the writing with fresh enthusiasm.

So today I had the urge to cook.  It was time to get down to basics and I'm not being literal here.  I hauled out my well-worn copy of a Betty Crocker recipe book that a friend gave me for my nineteenth birthday - and no, I'm not going to say how long ago that was.  But I will say it's holding together nicely all things considered.  So with book on the counter, I turned to a blast from the past, a one skillet recipe - a past favourite - not favourite to eat, although it will suffice, favourite to cook - translation, relatively easy.

Then, I ran into a problem, the bluetooth wasn't working.  I had to listen to my music through the speakers of my phone.  I know, I could have fiddled and fixed it but my tomato sauce was already in one hand and the music is important.  When I cook, I listen to music and yes, I'll admit it, I dance.  To be fair, I'm alone in the kitchen, there's no one to be traumatized by me waving a wooden spoon in the air or even me dancing out of synch although I swear I'm completely in step.  Yes, stay clear of the kitchen when I'm cooking, you might be whacked with a wooden spoon while I'm doing a spin - accidentally, of course.

Back to the cooking, when the majority of your creativity is pored into writing the latest story, the fourth and last in my Al-Nassar brothers' series,  it's refreshing to do something else that doesn't involve writing to rejuvenate and breathe new fire into your story.  Now after making a batch of skillet spaghetti - one of my specialties and no, in case you were wondering - restaurants will not be knocking on my door to get that well and time-worn recipe.  But they won't go away hungry and they will appreciate the glass of wine
that came with that dish.  That is provided they agreed to stay and give an extra hand with the mess that followed.

Cooking, knitting, painting - what sparks your creativity?

Ryshia

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