Entry 2: How I Learned to cook

 Growing up my mom always tried to teach me to cook so If anything I could help myself make healthy home food instead of eating food that was not so comforting. At the age of 14, I started my freshmen year not knowing what classes to take. I talked to a counselor, who helped me pick out my classes. Time was already running out for me, so I had to choose quick. I asked If I could take a Weight training class because I loved working out and she said all the classes were full. At this point, I was very upset because I thought I would definitely fail. I didn't know anything about measuring, and all I knew was how to make anything besides eggs; at this point, I thought I would never get through this class because I wasn't interested. I tell my mother, she is very happy with the news. I always wanted to make my mother proud, so I told myself the best thing was to push through. 

The first week was very rough for me. We were grouped into 4, and I was the only one who didn't understand what was happening in my group. In the second week, we had to cook a lunch meal independently, and I decided to research something simple because I was all on my own this time. I wasn't the type to ask for help at the time because I was afraid of judgment; I liked to do everything myself. I looked at all the measuring cups my mom had in the cabinet and realized there were already numbers written on the measuring cups and on the recipe as well. I was overthinking way more than I needed to. I saw a recipe for casserole pasta so I decided to make It the night before just to ensure it wouldn't be bad because everyone would have to try it the next day. I told my mother I would be cooking dinner and she was very happy because she was very busy that night. I told myself "this has to be perfect" I learned how to make a homemade pasta sauce and decided to have a little more fun with it and add my own ingredients to experiment. 

I started by reading the ingredients carefully and setting everything that I needed out on the table. My sister walks in and tells me that there's no way you can mess up a simple pasta. This is where I started to become more confident in myself. I begin boiling my water first and adding pasta after. My mother always told me she could feel how much salt or seasoning she put so I kept that in mind. On to another pan oil season and cook the meat. After that, I move on to the sauce and add everything together. I add my cheese, and into the oven, it goes.

Now it's time to prepare the table. I was very nervous as I waited for the pasta to cool down. It took me about 10 minutes to gain the courage to call everyone to the table. I gave it a taste, and I was very happy with the result but still nervous about what my family thought because it was my first time making dinner. My mother comes and whispers to me "if the plates are empty and the pan is almost finished that means it's great" everyone digs in and says this is the best pasta they have in a while. This made me so happy with myself that I wanted to cook more, and I couldn't wait to make it in class for my classmates to try. The next day I followed everything carefully, and they had a great reaction to it too. 

From that day I stopped getting nervous and decided to just enjoy the experience. Every Friday I would cook something new for the family, and until this day I still get asked to make that same pasta! I joined a cooking and baking contest and got 1st place twice. This has always stuck in the back of my head whenever I decide to try something new. If you really give it a try, you can definitely do it.