I'm a second year English and Theatre student at university with a huge passion for cooking. I'm a pretty organised person, but the default setting of my kitchen is fairly different. It's been said that I'm not exactly the tidiest of cooks. Thankfully, now I'm home for the summer it's my parents that are on the receiving end of the mess, in exchange for copious amounts of cakes, puddings and enough food to feed a small army.
We try to stay as healthy as we can, but there are some things that should never be altered - it's pretty much blasphemous in my house to have pudding without some kind of accompaniment, be it icing, ice-cream, fruit, or (lets face it) all of the above.
I love proper home cooking, and ever since I was little my mum has served a huge variety of food, which gave me a great way of experiencing different styles and flavours. My grandma has always said, 'if you can read, you can cook', and I've adopted the phrase as a kind of mantra. Anyone can cook anything. Including students. We've got a reputation for relying on ready-meals, takeaways and alcohol, and however much that is true for some people, I much prefer the taste of a good, home cooked meal to anything you can get out of a carton. My uni friends have laughed about how much I rely on onions, garlic, and avast stash of herbs and spices, but I don't think anyone's ever turned down a free taster of chicken curry.
Good student cooking isn't a myth. It is possible to cook good, healthy meals on a budget without losing flavour or flare. Uni doesn't have to mean craving your mums cooking, because you can create your old favourites yourself whenever you feel like it! Honestly, cooking tea is my favourite time of day; it's the only time I can be doing something other than working and not feel guilty about it. The more complicated the recipe, the longer the break from reading!
Food really can calm the soul. All cooking takes is a little bit of practice and a few willing guinea pigs!
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