made with love

The kitchen was and is my mother's domain.  My mom really shines in the kitchen.  She makes incredible food that looks great and tastes even better.  Since she was always so good at it, I didn't have to learn to cook until I was living on my own and it became a necessity for me.  In the beginning, I'd by boxed or prepackaged meals and either warm them up or throw them into the oven for a little while.  I ate lots of mama noodles, mac and cheese, and all sorts of processed foods that were easy to put together.  I basically ate crap for a lot of years...until I finally smartened up and asked my mom for some help.  She walked me through some basic stir-frys and I was able to survive on a couple of simple dishes.  

These few dishes just don't cut it anymore.  I want to feel more comfortable in the kitchen.  I want to be creative with my food and have fun with the cooking process.  I want to be THAT mom who can provide a healthy and satisfying meal for my family one day.

So with my word for the year, my hope is to push myself and TRY to embrace our little kitchen rather than letting it limit me.  I'm proud to say that since we've been back home in HK, I have managed to cook a few times a week.  They aren't spectacular meals and I'm not sure if I'm ready to have guests stop in yet, but at least I'm doing it.  I'm starting a habit and even more important...I'm enjoying the process.

This ties in perfectly with the second week of P52 as the theme is Made With Love.  The food I make for Matt and I to eat is made with love.  It's not always the prettiest or the tastiest, but it comes from the heart. 

Our kitchen.  Yes...it is really that small.

Rice...a staple.

Pork.

2 parts black pepper & 1 part garlic all mixed together with my new mixer.

The many different sauces I used in this stir-fry.

The end result...YUM! 

Pork with blackpepper and garlic.

As a total side note...I got hung up on the story rather than on my photo abilities.  Oops.  Next time I will try to work on taking better photos as P52 is a journey into photography! :)