Simmer

To say I am not a cook would be putting things lightly. I have always been a picky eater so my culinary tastes run pretty simple.

Lots of junk food.

Chicken tenders.

Occasionally lasagna (yay for Italian night at the Jackson Woman's Club meeting tomorrow!)

Because of my lack of variety, I have never been one to be enthusiastic about cooking. Caleb laughs because I about burnt the house down boiling water to make jello.

In my defense, I did not about burn the house down... I just singed the stove when the water bubbled over.

And I'm sure I had my nose in a book somewhere... or maybe I was dealing with a precocious child.

And besides, isn't that why they make Snack packs?

Boiling water doesn't boil immediately. It has to get warm enough. As the heat moves through the water, it begins to bubble.

Good cooks know just the right temperature to get the water to where it isn't exactly boiling, but is hot enough to prepare whatever is soaking in the water (shows how much I know about cooking. I don't even know the right terminology!)

As I'm thinking about Italian food, I'm imagining the smell of homemade Ragu tomato sauce wafting through the air as it simmers on the stove.

Simmers... just below the boiling point.

Kind of like I get sometimes when I get overwhelmed. I hover right there, just under the boiling point, until the water spills over the edge of the pan and "about burns the house down" by singeing the oven.

Anger can turn to bitterness and bitterness turns our heart hard. As we feel ourselves begin to simmer, let's remember that a good cook adjusts the temperature and maybe even moves the pot off the burner.

Don't boil over. Deal with whatever is pushing you to that point.

And while you're at it, cool that anger down with a nice bowl of store-bought ice cream... no cooking necessary =)

Writing in February all 28 days, using prompts developed by Anita Ojeda for her Write 28 Days Challenge. I'm not using her prompts every day, but on this long Monday I was feeling uninspired, so it was nice to have a word to focus on. Check out other blogs participating in the previous link.