Therapeutic Cooking or...

_{I made butter cream frosting from scratch. If interested, I can share the recipe!}

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I had some guests over the weekend, and I don't know why I went into full chef mode. Now, I'm dealing with the aftermath.

To top it all I made doughnuts also...

_{Before glazing}

_{How could I forget my hot selling item, chicken bread}

No I couldn't take pictures of finished products of all. The bread was so scrumptious. I can tell you this much. You will have to take my word for it.

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This is not a food post. I just want to share the power of therapeutic cooking. I had some guests, and I was very tired from the Eid shenanigans. But all I could think about in-between writing here on the platform was cooking and baking. It was my gateway to escape - escape from my stupid thoughts, worries, and negativity. By night, I was drained and exhausted, but I had a very peaceful night. I had put all my energy into food. I wanted to be tired so that when I lay in bed, I wouldn't have to think about anything else and could just be lulled to sleep. @bambuka says it's the dismay of the past that lingers on, and what about the present? What if you want to give up every single day? A simple chore like thinking and arranging food for everyone in the household, I mean every single day. And not only for your family but also for the added people who are now kind of your responsibility. I don't want to shy away from this responsibility, but it's taxing some days - thinking and executing every single day. They are nice people, they are not bad people, but doing things for nice people every single day is also sometimes exhausting.

And what an irony - all I can think about is cooking again. I could have gone outside for a walk or a chat with a friend. But I didn't feel like connecting with people some days. Some days are just different than others. And the energy they carry is also on another tangent.

_{Banana bread. I didn't make it yesterday. But I thought of adding it in-between my long text.}

So am I a bad person for thinking like this?

I read your texts about helping people, helping strangers, helping animals. So where do I stand? If I help take care of people who are now my responsibility, and I will have to take care of them in the long run. It's not only related to cooking. It's not even about cooking anymore. It's about molding our lives around them. For example, you can't make a sudden plan. You can't act on impulse. You can't even have a lazy Sunday anymore. Cooking for kids is one thing, and taking responsibility for elders who are kind of dependent on you when they are at your place for everything is something else. So do I get extra credit for this? Or just because it's the way of life here - it's expected to be a norm? Sometimes, I wonder if the effort we put into caring for others is truly acknowledged or if it's simply taken for granted...

_{assorted pakoras پکوڑے}

_{To die for 'potato puffs' - made in air-fryer}

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_{P.S:. These pictures and food were made by me. You can ask for any recipe, and I will try to help with your queries, maybe in an additional post.}