Reflections on one year of marriage- the cooking bit

Nowadays I am wondering, is this me? I used to hate stepping into the kitchen, I wasn't very interested in eating, I wouldn't understand why people "waste" so much time in kitchen.

But over the last one year, I have really started feeling curious, wanting to try out new things, I feel excited when I make a shopping list for a new dish, I can't wait to unpack all the purchases and get to task!

Not that I am a great cook, I am still at the very basics.

And this transformation in me, is because of "company". My husband is a foodie, he loves experimenting, he loves home cooking, I feel so excited when two of us do things together.

Also, handling that small amount of ingredients (just for two of us) is not as hard, it's perfectly manageable, so I have been able to improve on my weaknesses and experiment. Moreover, when I feel tense, my husband is that cool-as-cucumber kind of character, who says, "why are you feeling tense, try to enjoy this process", cooking has become a medium for us to indulge in, it is like "playing together". I so look forward to weekends when we just make something as simple as a curry, or plain daal, or pulao, anything, I love it when it is with him and for both of us.

This kind of freedom wasn't possible at home, mom is ever busy at work, didi was too much into yoga (I wont eat so much oil, I wont eat so much green chilli, no garlic please, yuck no red chilli powder). Dad doesn't know how to enjoy cooking. Rather, his idea of cooking is that food should be cooked so that we can eat it up, and food should be cooked by me so that he can stand at the side & keep on criticizing! :-P I find it so funny to recollect, he would mind my choice of vessels/bowls/ladles, my choice of spice, all silly reasons like jheera is not south Indian, that bowl was unnecessary since there is this other smaller one, that one is only for milk, why did you use that onion when there is another one in the fridge, o my God now you are making this daal so nobody will eat the chayot which I wanted to make & it will get spoilt, etc... In effect, he was the owner of the kitchen and didn't appreciate independent thought. Yet, he wasn't good at clear delegation, so everything used to be argument..

I find it all so funny now, I started my marriage as a girl who knows zero cooking, today I am comfortable enough, not a great cook who can entertain guests, but moderate & reasonable enough to feed both of us with ample variety.

Now I wait for mom & dad to visit me here, so that dad can taste my food, and I wonder how he'll feel, when he realizes that he fretted endlessly for no reason!