This post is considerably lighter than my previous posts, and with good reason as I'll explain below.
Its important to keep yourself occupied when you're in a position where you're at home for very long periods of time, and especially during a time like this when life has been thrown a curveball and we all have to make changes to stay safe and to keep everyone else safe. But even when we're not in the middle of a pandemic, having things to keep ourselves occupied is important for our own health and wellbeing. Its an opportunity to unwind, invest in something we enjoy. As much as we want to, we can't work all day every day. Trust me, I've tried! Full-time work and LPC study in the evenings, not my idea of a work/life balance! Even part-time work and LPC study in the evenings wasn't my idea of fun! I was exhausted, stressed, and severely lacking any semblance of a social life!
One thing I love doing is cooking. I took an interest in it when I was young and saw my mother making colourful foods and cakes and all sorts of things. I got much more involved as a teenager because I wanted to have more of a hand around the home, take some pressure off my parents who were starting to struggle a bit back then, to impress people as I understood that the fastest way to someone's good books is through their stomach, and because I find doing things for people is good therapy for me. I aspire to be a good servant to people because I feel I can do a lot of good and be helpful to a lot of people who can benefit from my efforts and knowledge and skills.
Some of my favourite things to cook are hearty winter dishes like stews and casseroles, and its particularly useful to be able to make multiple servings of this so that I've got leftovers to freeze for another dinner or for a lunch to take to work with me. Trust me, the work I've done at my last few jobs really made me build up an appetite!
As for baking, I enjoy making all kinds of things but I'm particularly handy when it comes to things like brownies, cookies, and things that you can make a batch of. At my old job at Openreach, my colleagues enjoyed when I would bring in my weekend creations to share around over the next couple of days or so. When the time came for me to move on, one of the gifts they got me was this ....
Yes that is an apron with my name on it, and its brilliant!
But anyway, over the weekend Mum and I got in the kitchen and did some baking, and we made this....
We made a lemon sponge cake. Dad requested it as it is his birthday next week and he couldn't wait!
This is one of those old faithful bakes from my mum's mum's notebook that was left to my mum. I never got to meet my maternal nan as she sadly passed away before I was born. Mum picked up a lot of her cooking skills from her and in turn I picked up a lot of my skills from my mum. I'm glad that things like this are kept in the family. Its important not only because its an essential life skill but also because there's history to go with it. Like in a sense I'm connecting with my maternal nan through this lemon sponge cake.
Yeah you know how I said this was going to be a lighter post? This has just got deep. Oops!
Anyway, the point of this story is that it is important to have downtime and spend time doing what you love. And whilst not a mandatory requirement, its even better if it means you can use those skills to put yourself across to an employer. For instance, cooking and baking use skills that are important for me as a lawyer, such as:
- following direction (the recipe);
- working to a goal (in this case, a delicious goal!);
- using your own initiative (ie your own decision based on your own knowledge and expertise as to when to progress to the next step);
- using your own drive and proactivity (special things such as cakes and things out of the normal need you to make the decision to do it);
- in the case above with my Dad wanting a lemon cake for his birthday, taking instruction and working to that instruction;
- client service (doing the best and most thorough job that you possibly can for your client); and
- personal development (I get more confident doing the things I know, and more willing and interested in trying new things to add more dishes to my repertoire).
Ok, that's enough work-based stuff for a lighter post! The cake was delicious, Dad was happy, and we're all enjoying it. Nom!
Its my decision on something to do next, and I've got an idea of what I'm going to do. Happily it doesn't need flour, which is just as well since there's a shortage of the stuff in supermarkets and shops right now. Quarantine has brought out our inner Mary Berry!
To anyone else who is doing a lot more cooking and baking during this time, do share what you've done. Its always nice for all of us to see and take inspiration from what everyone else is doing, and if it means more cooks and bakers in the world, then the world will be much sweeter!
............. see what I did there? Sweeter? Because baking?
I'll get my coat ........
Be safe! Be well! :)
Cover image credit: me! Taken with my phone camera
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