Not a cook

Today I am going to Stitches West, bringing empty shopping bags and my credit card, ready to splurge in expensive and exotic yarns and have a good time.

A lot of people that have known me throughout the years did not know I was a knitter. But I knitted a lace shawl once that really made me proud, so I posted it on Facebook.  I am still getting comments on it two years later, as I add people to my friends list.

A friend asked: "Is there anything you cannot do?"

"Gestate a live child", would have been my answer of choice. But it would have been too gloomy. So I replied instead that I cannot cook, which is kind of true.

I love food, but I have serious ingredient issues, not only because of carbohydrates. In general I stay away from too  many things people add to their food everyday. For example, I don't have sugar or flour at home, which is not surprising given my carbohydrate intake. But the only oil you find in my home is olive oil. No shortening, no butter, no margarine. I have no bread, no mayo, no ketchup. I bought salt, and a salt shaker, two years ago, when my parents came to visit. Before then I did not have either at home. I still have the same container. It must be all caked by now.

I ruin every recipe by substituting with "healthier" ingredients. A soup needs to be thickened with flour? I add ground flaxseed instead. A flan needs two cups of sugar? I use a tablespoon of honey. The recipe for meatballs calls for bread crumbs? I use chia seeds. Refried beans should be prepared with lard, but I use olive oil.

It's funny that whenever someone else is cooking I eat the real thing with gusto, but am unable to do the same at home.

Then again, I cook my own lunch and bring it to work everyday, and I cook my own dinner (except when we eat out, about twice per week). I have kept a BMI of 23 for four years since I started with my low carb obsession. So maybe I am not such a bad cook.

Still can't gestate a live child, though.