Provided by Chris:
This week’s Weekly Geek is inspired by Dewey’s Knit-a-Long, a mini challenge of Dewey’s Reading Challenge. Dewey had other passions besides reading and blogging. Knitting was one of them. This made me think, what are the Weekly Geek’s other passions?
#1. What are you passionate about besides reading and blogging? For example, are you crafty (knitting, woodworking, scrapbooking, model building)? Do you cook? Into gaming (computer or board)? Sports (player or spectator)? Photography? Maybe you like geocaching, rock climbing? Or love attending events like renaissance fairs, concerts? Music? Dancing? You get the idea.
Are there other hobbies outside reading and my incessant addiction to Facebook? LOL! Honestly, I don’t have the time to devote to anything of interest outside of blogging, reading and FB, and even then I probably spend too much time devoted to those activities than I should thanks to homework, life with kids, and household chores. Still, if I had to pick something about which I am truly passionate (outside of reading), it would be cooking. In an ideal world, I would not be studying for my MBA but attending the Culinary Institute of America learning how to become a professional chef. Right now, it is nothing more than a hobby, but I haven’t quite relinquished my dreams of attending culinary school. There is something so exciting about creating a meal from scratch, presenting it to family and friends and hearing them rave about how wonderful it tastes. I find the entire act of cooking extremely relaxing and cathartic. My only regret is that I’ve had to reduce how much I cook these days and have passed along that duty to my husband. I do hope to pick up more of that duty again when I graduate.
This is just one picture I could find of something I’ve made. For Connor’s fifth birthday, I made a really cool Moon cake for his Space-themed birthday. I’m irked that I can’t find pictures of that one…
#2. Get us involved. Link to tutorials, recipes, Youtube videos, websites, fan sites, etc, anything that will help us learn more about your interest or how to do your hobby. Maybe you’d like to link to another hobbyist whose work you admire or tell us about a book or magazine related to your interest.
I am a HUGE fan of Giada deLaurentiis from the Food Network. I have several of her cookbooks. She is my go-to person for recipes when I want to try something new. I also subscribe to Food and Wine magazine, as well as Taste of Home magazine. Both have given me some amazing recipes. Neither one is exactly low-fat, low-cal, but when it comes to cooking, I’ve discovered that you can’t do food justice when you substitute. Sometimes, you just have to splurge!!
#3. Visit other Weekly Geeks. Link in your post to other Geeks who’ve peaked your interest in their passion. Or maybe you might find a fellow afincionado among us, link to them.
I haven’t seen anyone with a similar passion to mine, and I am frankly impressed at fellow Geeks’ creativity and craftiness. However, I was curious about both Erika Lynn at Kiss my Book and Andrea at So Many Books, So Little Time with their passions regarding sports. I am a huge sports fan as well, although don’t pay attention to them as much as I used too, but I love when fellow women speak up about their passion regarding any sport. It is so empowering to be able to hold your own in a conversation with a coworker about last Sunday’s game!
I enjoy cooking, I just hate the cleaning up part! I am one of those people who can somehow dirty up every single dish I have in the course of making one meal. Have you ever read Julie and Julia? It’s about a woman (Julie) who decides to try to cook all 524 recipes in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year. I think they are making a movie out of it now, but I’m thinking the book is probably better. If culinary school is something you like to do, I think this might be a book that you would enjoy.
Oh, yay, another cook! I also make and decorate my girls’ birthday cakes, too. I enjoy it, and they enjoy it, so it’s a win all around!
What a beautiful cake! I love the Food Network and Giada, Rachael Ray has always been my go to girl for recipes!
Tasses, any cooking class is definitely on the agenda. I’ve taken a couple but they were participation only (a huge disappointment). I imagine I’ll need to find something to fill up all that free time! 😉
I love to cook also and have been toying with the idea of starting a cooking blog for a long time (but I already have 3 blogs!). I remember making cakes for my kids. That was so much fun. I hope they remember the work & love that went into those things!Maybe you could find time (after finishing that MBA) to take a cooking class. Hey, not culinary school, but an idea….
Thanks, Bogsider. The cake was lemon. I let my kids choose the type of cake they want for their birthday. I might not have time to cook anymore, but they always get a homemade birthday cake (and their favorite meal)!
Thanks, Nymeth and Chris! As I said, I’ve had to step aside and let my husband take over quite a bit of it, much to my chagrin. That doesn’t mean I don’t take the chance when an opportunity presents itself!! I do have to laugh because my mother still teases me about how I once confronted her in the middle of the grocery store and asked her to teach me to cook. She never did, so a lot of what I do now is stuff I picked up from the Food Network. That channel is definitely an addiction of mine!
I love to cook as well and am addicted to cook-shows on tv. I spend a lot of money on cook-books and I love to take pictures of food :o) I have other interests as well, and I choose not to highlight cooking this time in favor of other hobbies. That cake looks fab. I bet it tasted good ;o)
I so wish I was a better cook. My husband is the cook in the family.
How cool that you’re so passionate about cooking! I’d love to learn to cook some day. I mean, to really cook, to make delicious and elaborate dishes and not just the basic things that I make. I do a bit of baking from time to time and I also find it very relaxing and satisfying 🙂