I hope you’ve been cooking some delicious things from Start Here! by Sohla El-Waylly.
This was our first time reading a cookbook in the book club, and I wasn’t sure how it would go. It was a lot of fun to do an in-person conversation with Sohla while we cooked together. Watching her, I finally learned how to dice an onion properly and now I am just randomly dicing onions simply because I can.
But there aren’t traditional chapters so let’s just do one big discussion post where we can talk about the book a bit.
In the introduction, Sohla talks about struggling in school and figuring out her best learning style. Sohla’s need to know the “why” of what she was learning has helped her not only develop her own skills but become an excellent teacher as well. How do you approach learning a new skill? How have you, as an adult, figured out what works best for you?
What are your first memories of cooking? Do you remember the first thing you made on your own? Do you have a go-to recipe that you know by heart? We all have to eat. If you struggle with cooking, what are your stumbling blocks? In what areas would you like to improve or learn more?
Which recipes from the book did you try? What were your cooking wins? And failures? What advice did you find the most helpful? And if you have pictures of your dishes, do share them! I’ll do a follow up post of your beautiful dishes, if I receive any!
The kitchen was a forbidden zone for me. Less than a year from my hospital discharge for atypical anorexia at the age of 45, my focus was just making sure that I ate enough food to satisfy my dietician. The thought of enjoying cooking, eating or anything associated with food seemed to be an impossibility.
I was intrigued by the selection of Sohla El-Waylly's cookbook for the book club, so I purchased a copy and began reading. The introduction to the book which described her learning style and granted permission to fail drew me into the book further. I read the first chapter on taste with a mix of trepidation and fascination which then morphed into deep curiosity. My initial foray into cooking focusing on cucumber salads and raithas had mixed success. My reticent teenage son was completely shocked to see me not only in the kitchen but with a hot pan of oil frying shallots. Although I would describe the culinary outcome of this first attempt at cooking as less than fantastic, the overall impact was life-changing for us. I started connecting with my son in the kitchen in a way that I never could have believed possible. We have now started cooking together several times a week and my other two sons have joined us in our cooking adventures.
Together, we have optimized poached chicken, explored the wonders of bone broth, feasted on cheesy macaroni pomodoro, and of course appreciated the delectable chicken soup with masa dumplings. Our next challenge will be the future brownies. I enjoy every moment of time in the kitchen with my family including both the cooking and more importantly the eating. Thank you so much for selecting this book and introducing me to this brilliant, empowering chef.
My first memory of cooking is one of the first memories I can remember; I was 7 or so. My mom and I were making six week raisin bran muffins; the batter was in the fridge in the big jadeite green Tupperware bowl with a lid and I scooped out enough for a few muffins for me and my mom and baked them every day for us. But my mom told me that I was in the kitchen with her as soon as I could dump and stir. Cooking and baking has served me well over the years, taking care of my parents and myself. I have my specials that I can whip together without thinking too much; an excellent brownie recipe that takes just 5 minutes of actual work, a quality loaf of oatmeal honey bread, and a meatloaf that made me & my mom happy are the things that are in my brain forever and they fill my soul with a bit of contentment in this world.
My biggest roadblock to cooking is being a disabled person with chronic pain and some days, extremely little energy to do my normal activities let alone stand by the stove and stir. I've gotten better at sitting to do prep work but it's difficult to make my entire day's diet balanced-ish when I can't stand for more than 3 minutes. That's the biggest block to cooking; I love to cook and it makes me despair a bit when I can't feed myself because I hurt too much.