Cooking is Good for the Soul

As some of you might know, I enjoy playing chef in my kitchen. I love to cook. For me, cooking is an art, it's therapy. No massage in the world could relax the tension in my shoulders like chopping an onion or sautéing mushrooms.

Currently, I'm sitting at my kitchen island, with a glass of wine, watching my French blue Le Creuset dutch oven on the stove. It's a beautiful sight really...the fading French blue against the red wall of the kitchen. But, what's more beautiful than the sight of a pot on the stove is the smell. Oh, the smell. I love the fragrance of white wine, onion, and garlic simmering on the stove. I'm trying a new recipe tonight.

The recipe is from Cook's Illustrated. It's a fabulous, and very fancy magazine. I only describe it as fancy because it is printed on heavy paper...it's what I would call a "keeper". (It is going in the Save Pile after I finish cooking dinner tonight.)

This recipe is for "Almost No-Stir Risotto." It's a combination of some of my favorite ingredients. White wine, garlic, onion, chicken broth, and Arborio rice. I'm also adding mushrooms, just because. Just sautéing the onions brought my blood pressure down...pouring in the white wine relaxed my tense shoulders...and dumping in the arborio rice lifted the weight off my chest.

There are still several minutes before dinner will be served, and yet I'm already feeling the same contentment one gets from eating a satisfying meal. Cooking really is good for the soul...