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[personal profile] sakon76
Inlaws arrived safely and stopped by briefly on their way to the hotel to cuddle the Squiddle, who is much bigger than when they cuddled him last.

Unrelated thought that's been nagging at me for a while now. I never know how to respond when people praise my cooking. I'm not one of those gifted individuals who can merrily fling a bit of this, some of that, and a dab of yet something else together and end up with a dish. I cook by mechanics, by tried-and-true recipes. So I really, honestly doesn't feel like my cooking is anything praiseworthy. I'm getting praised for following directions. "Oh, you did that paint-by-numbers so well!" So I never know what to say.

Date: 2014-06-17 06:58 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] justbolts.livejournal.com
I sympathize, I have the hardest time taking compliments! Honestly, I advocate the method of saying "thank you" and moving on, even if you don't believe it or think it's unwarranted.

With food, sometimes people just want to express appreciation for the effort put into feeding them something they enjoyed, so you could try thinking of it that way. Another thing to consider is that most cooking directions require you to have an existing knowledge and skill-base of techniques. If you know how to cook, it's a simple matter of following the steps, but if you don't know how to cook, than instructions like "brown and drain the meat", "sift dry ingredients together", "cream sugar and butter", and "julienne carrots" are inexplicable and confusing. Basically, being able to follow and understand those directions is a skill in itself.

Date: 2014-06-17 01:25 pm (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Trufax! Because haha I don't cook, so there are a LOT of common "oh, everyone knows THAT!" things, that I don't. So even following a recipe is hard for me as often as not bc I have NO idea what they're talking about and feel like I need a translator.

And there's definitely the appreciating being fed aspect!

Date: 2014-06-17 01:27 pm (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Also ANONYMOUS??

This is Dragon, not realizing my phone has suddenly decided to not be signed in. Ugh.

Date: 2014-06-17 11:16 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] playswithworms.livejournal.com
Seconding/thirding the "you totally deserve the praise!" Home cooking is home cooking, whether you follow a recipe or invent your own. Effort and skill are involved - even if you're heating up a can of soup!

Date: 2014-06-18 04:56 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tainry.livejournal.com
::nodnodnod:: Just a 'thank you' and onward works generally, but also fourthing the hey there was effort of some kind involved and social aspect of sharing food ritual stuff. Social things themselves I often think of as being recipes; once you know the polite form just stick with that and that gets you through most interactions with humans.

Date: 2014-06-19 08:56 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] spiderlove.livejournal.com
Ha ha, no, trust me, cooking is an art. Even when two people follow the exact same recipe, they get different flavors because one can't resist adding just a pinch of this and the other must let it simmer for a certain amount of time longer or shorter than the book says to. My sister and I were talking about this. She's a stellar cook and I just... make lots of macaroni. But I can whip up the most amazing desserts and candies, with which you only have *so* much wiggle room. It takes instinct to be a good cook! So if people compliment your cooking, you really have earned it. ^_~

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