You choose to work, or you choose to play.

When it's a chore, you aren't as dedicated to the dish and can become distracted,  resulting in bad experiences. But when creating the dish is a true pleasure, immediately you bring your attention to the important details such as: whether or not the rolls are burning. I know this is true, because I had flaming rolls. 

Some people view cooking as a chore, a tedious task you perform three times a day to make the hunger go away and provide fuel for the next task. But for me, it's a celebration of color, flavor, and texture. It's a CHANCE for me to be creative, discover a new favorite combination of flavors, try a new recipe, or even screw up and learn something new. Seriously, I'm hooked. Even breakfast omelets don't get boring; there is no end to the amount of stuff you can put in an omelet.

One of my favorite random omelets came after a delightful date night at Nanakusa, when we took home some of the green tea sea salt that was served with something delicious. I can't remember what. But I made a plain omelet with unsalted butter, and sprinkled that green tea salt on top. WOW. So simple, but so delicious. The delicate green tea flavor was enhanced by the rich egg yolk...so good.

Another one of my other favorite omelets came together when I finally opened a jar of peach salsa that had been in the pantry since our wedding. Not only is it one the most delicious things I've eaten with chips, but if you make an omelet with black beans, green peppers and some sharp cheddar cheese and spoon some peach salsa on top...and you've got yourself an AWESOME breakfast. Total sunshine on a plate.

See what I mean? Cooking is not a chore- it's awesome! Of course sometimes you fail...like the time I tried drizzling black truffle infused oil on an omelet made with tomatoes and spinach...and it ended up inedible. Totally gross. BUT I learned what not to do and also discovered a great way to use black truffle infused oil:

Noodles, chopped up sun-dried tomatoes, cracked black pepper, drizzle of black truffle infused oil. Delicious midnight snack. For a giggle: seriouseats.com

I guess this post was inspired by a co-worker's amazement at my baking. I know I'm not that amazing, because there are a million cooks and chefs and bakers that educated, experienced and thoroughly engaged in the culinary arts. But in my small world, cooking is my one chance to travel, have an adventure, defy odds, and maybe even have an adrenaline rush. Compared to those who dread dinner or baking, maybe I am amazing. But if I am, it's only because I love to have fun.

Life's short. Choose to go have fun.