i should treat all of my interests the way i treat cooking
last night i made risotto for dinner, and it turned out really well.
i didn’t have a recipe, but the idea struck me when i was wandering through bloomingfoods last weekend seeking inspiration, with “you need to eat vegetables this week, kynthia!” playing on repeat in my mind.
over christmas, when i was playing with my new cookbook, i had made eggplant one night to prove to my mom how easy it could be to make good, simple eggplant, and on that same night we also had some zucchini to use up so i picked out a recipe for zucchini sauteed with kalamata olives and oregano, and it totally blew me away. i would never have thought to put olives in zucchini, but now i think that they are made for one another, and learning secret pairings like that is one of the things that i really love about cooking, because carrying around little tidbits of knowledge that can turn really basic foods into incredible taste experiences with just a flick of the wrist makes me feel like a ninja, with the power to slay an army in the crook of my little finger…
so anyway, chad gave me some fresh oregano last week at the marty party, and it felt like a good mission to think of something to cook it with. in pursuit of that mission, i remembered the zucchini, and then that made me think of the eggplant, and then i bought a pepper or something and at some point it sounded like a really good idea to make a risotto inspired by these flavors, because risotto is wholesome and filling and warm and soft – a good thing to have a stock of during a busy week with rain in the forecast.
and it certainly wasn’t a stretch of the risotto family or anything, like if i had been struck with a burning desire to explore taco schnitzel cape cod fusion cuisine.
few things are more italian than eggplant, zucchini and oregano.
it was basically just ratatouille with wine and rice.
so there ya go.
fun for the whole family.
i bought the veggies, picked up some cheese that i believe goes exceptionally well with eggplant (fontinella), and put it all in my fridge, thinking i’d get around to it on monday or tuesday.
those days ended up being too busy, though, and wednesday was the dance, so last night i was like “ok, you HAVE to make risotto.”
even though it was nearly 9 by the time i got around to it, and even though i knew that i needed to get other work done.
nonetheless, i did not grumble too much at the charge, and that is what really motivated this post, because spending a couple of hours in the kitchen in the middle of the stress of my capstone was good for me, and not only because it was a break, and happened to generate a large pot of sustenance.
see, i have been thinking a lot lately about my work ethic, and the hangups that i have when it comes to just making myself sit down and do things.
i worry about a lot of silly stuff, and am bad at keeping myself on task.
as i look over my capstone pieces and try to pull them together, i find myself thinking a lot of stuff like “why didn’t i push this idea further?” and “why haven’t i talked to more people about this?” and the answer is always “i wasn’t really sure it was right, so i hedged.”
this is a crap answer, and not good for design, and so it’s kind of shocking to see how much it comes up for me when i’m working on my own on something that i chose myself in a context where i don’t have anyone else to credit or blame for my decisions. i’ve said more than once that i think the main strength of solo capstone projects is making each of us stand next to an idea for a year and be like “you know what? this is interesting, damn it, and i’m going to show you why.” we don’t usually have the luxury or burden of that kind of accountability for our work, and while it’s really actually not the best setup for good design, i have reached a peace with it as a good final gauntlet for my master’s degree.
so these last few weeks before the final presentation are a period of personal reckoning. i have to look at what i’ve done, admit the holes, find the gems, and make an honest assessment of what i can do to bring the work to the highest level possible in the time i have left.
it’s exciting and terrifying at the same time, and i have to take deep breaths, keep pushing forward, and do this little juggling act where i both take myself more seriously (so that i sustain my belief that i’m doing stuff that matters) and less seriously (so that i don’t get too caught up in worrying about doing the perfect thing).
and this is where i think i have something to learn from cooking.
when i cook, i understand that part of the game is trying things out that might not work just to see what will happen. i understand that everything won’t taste good, and that, sometimes, when something turns out well, it’s just luck. i don’t pretend to be perfect, but i do have faith that, by simply continuing to work, honing my instincts, and paying attention to my mistakes, i will improve, and have a great time in the process.
these are good lessons to remember in more serious pursuits as well, which reminds me of something i learned the other day from a bag of quebecois potato chips, which is that the root for “amateur” is “ama”, or love.
so the things we do on the sidelines are the things we do for love.
awww….
etymology makes me happy, but in this particular case, i take it more as a charge to bring some of the spirit of amateurism into the rest of my life.
i do love my work.
i just gotta remember to let it shine.
now it’s time for dinner tonight, and then more capstoning.
but first, here’s a special edition “making of” excerpt from a conversation i had with josh (of the family evnin) last night, when these ideas first started percolating.
limited edition!
get yours today!
10:33 PM
Josh: ooh.. you should have done a cooking capstone ;-)
10:34 PM
me: :) yeah, maybe
i like email, too, though
and being organized
Josh: THAT much?
as much as cooking?
me: i need more help with those things
no, probably not. but it’s quite different
10:35 PM
and if i like it that much, i should probably just do IT, not cooking informatics
10:36 PM
the place where i think we most need hci is not the kitchen
but i’m glad the kitchen is there :)
10:37 PM
Josh: haha
good call
me: your question is good though. i was actually thinking of a blog post called “i should treat all of my interests the way i treat cooking”
10:38 PM
because i’m way more confident about just playing around with food.
i think my attitude about learning to be a better cook is healthier than my attitude about learning to be a better designer, or writer, or academic
10:39 PM
because i trust myself more
so that’s good to think about
Josh: i wonder if it has anything to do with the fact taht it’s a hobby
me: probably
Josh: you don’t set out to be a GREAT CHEF each time you step in the kitchen
10:40 PM
but when you do those other things, you want to be THE BEST YOU CAN BE
me: yeah, but i might be more likely to be one because of that
Josh: (like in the army)
true, all of a sudden you’ll just be a great cook cause you enjoy it
me: :) i don’t think design should adopt “an arm of one” though
armY
or arm, for that matter
Josh: haha
:)
IM typos make my day