Hey everyone! As you all know, I have such a strong passion for food, and specifically cooking food. I’ve been an avid cook for the past ten years, and today, I wanted to talk a little bit about when and how I discovered my passion and why I’m still so passionate about it.
Growing up, we ate potatoes a lot in my house. At least 4 days a week, we would have some sort of potato dish for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Some of the regulars were mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, potato casserole, and of course, french fries. Now, all of those foods are delicious, but if there’s one potato dish that I really love, it’s hash browns. I remember countless mornings waking up to the smell of my mom’s famous hash browns, and every time as soon as I smelled them, I knew there was a good day ahead of me.
One day, about ten years ago, I decided that I wanted to learn how to make hash browns like my mom. I still remember to this day how excited my mom was when I told her that I wanted to join her next time she made them. The next morning, I woke up and found my mom in the kitchen. From there, we got into the cooking process. Before then, I never knew exactly how much went into cooking. As far as I was concerned, hash browns were no more than potatoes cut up into little pieces and then heated up a bit. Well boy was I wrong! My mom started by helping me cut the potatoes into little strips. She then had me stir the potatoes in a bowl of water. After that, we dried the potato strips and put them into a skillet with melting butter. We added in some spices and stirred the hash browns for a few minutes and then it was all done!
I’ll be the first to admit that those hash browns were not the best hash browns that I have ever had, but I learned that day that I really loved and enjoyed cooking. From that day on, whenever I saw my mom cooking something that I’d never made before, I asked to join her. I have countless memories of my mom teaching me different kitchen tips, and I still remember all of the many life lessons that she somehow managed to teach me as we cooked together.
I think that one of the biggest reasons that I am still so passionate about cooking is the flood of happy memories that it brings back to me so often.To this day, every time I cook, I remember my mom and the positive impact that she’s had on me in my life.
So, to all the parents, children, and/or siblings that are reading this, take your children, parents, and or siblings and make some hash browns with them! Who knows? Maybe you will be able to start your own incredible cooking relationships! Tell us about your experiences of how you came to love food or of how you and someone bonded over food in the comments below!
Foodie 101 