What's Cooking?

A number of years ago I discovered that I enjoyed cooking. It started when some friends gave us a crock-pot for Christmas. It came with a recipe book. I thought, “How hard can it be to follow instructions?” So I plugged in the crock-pot and followed directions and presto: homemade spaghetti sauce! And then chili, followed by scalloped potatoes and ham, potato soup, chicken cacciatore, ground beef casserole, and spicy rump roast. Years later I got two cast-iron skillets for Christmas. I love those skillets! They gave me the opportunity to branch out and try homemade sloppy joes, maple-glazed pork chops, pineapple upside-down cake, cornbread (a miserable failure), pecan-crusted trout, and blackened tilapia.

I took over the task of baking the turkey every Thanksgiving. Last Thanksgiving, along with the turkey, I added a few dishes a couple of great cooks at the church shared with me… corn casserole and squash dressing. I also learned to brine the turkey. Sure it was fun to see my kids and grandkids, but the real fun was all the cooking!

This past Saturday I cooked for my daughter and son-in-law and my mom and dad. At about 4:30pm I started the process with peeling and thin-slicing about 2½ pounds of potatoes. I placed them in my foil-lined grilling basket with about half a diced onion. I seasoned the potatoes and onion with garlic salt, chicken rub, oregano, basil, and pepper. After adding a couple of chunks of butter (the real stuff) I closed the foil over the potatoes making a neat package and put the basket on the gas grill for about 45 minutes.

Before the potatoes went on the grill I got the chicken breasts in the oven. I sliced 3 chicken breasts down the middle making 6 thinner servings. They fit quite nicely in my baking dish with melted butter and olive oil. Seasoned with garlic salt, pepper, and you guessed it… chicken rub, and my main dish was ready for the oven. With the chicken in the oven and the potatoes on the grill I was ready to start the sauce. One can of cream of chicken soup, ½ cup of milk, and ½ cup of red wine makes up the base. Add a little of this and that, heat it on the stove-top and you get a tan-colored sauce to pour over the chicken. Soooo good!

Everything turned out perfect. Sandy added a fresh tossed salad, dinner rolls, and a key lime pie from HEB. The 6 of us had the most pleasant meal. And yes, I enjoyed my mom’s compliments… she especially liked the grilled potatoes. Sandy is always so grateful when I cook for her; the baked chicken breast is her favorite. It is fun when the finished product turns out as good as anticipated and everyone likes it. But the real surprise in all this is how much I enjoy the process. It doesn’t feel like work to me. I like spending a few hours preparing everything and monitoring the oven and the grill. Sometimes the end-result doesn’t turn out as well as anticipated, but I still enjoy the process.

Too much of life is lived with an eye on the end result. Too often the goal is to just finish. We rob ourselves of the joy to be found in the process. A friend once told me that he thought I liked to cook so I could feel like I finished something. “The work of a pastor,” he said, “is never done.” I disagree. It’s getting my hands inside that turkey, or dipping the trout fillet in the flour, egg, and then mashing it into the crushed pecans, or seasoning the potatoes, or mixing, or slicing, it’s the process itself that I enjoy. He was right; the work of a pastor is never done. But how wonderful is the process of shepherding souls and wrestling with God’s Word!