Being Good in the Kitchen Will Help You Be Good in Bed

Don’t get me wrong, the theme of this article isn’t what your naughty mind has conjured up. I’ve been sick with flu-like symptoms and may, at this point, be an Omichondriac. I’ve been forced to spend endless hours in bed, trying to make myself comfortable and amused.

It afforded me time to ponder why I’m so good in the kitchen yet so poor at resting in bed. Both are healthy, nourishing activities that require certain skills.

Fostering these skills will help you cook and take a needed respite from life—all from the comfort of home.

Focus on the joy of it.

Being good in the kitchen is a pretty valuable life skill to have, and this is something that you need to try to make sure you focus on as much as possible. Even if you’re not a Michelin Chef, you can still create delicious meals that bring you joy and shared memories. Remember what your grandmother made that still lingers as delight? Look at them as past indulgences to guide your culinary path.The same holds true for lying in bed.

I haven’t spent a week immobilized between sheets for several years.

At the onset, it’s hard to find any thrills when one can barely rise.

But eventually, you may remember what it was like staying home from school, watching cartoons, secretly enjoying the benefits of being pampered and prone.    

Once you get over the worst of it, you still have to maintain your repose to heal.

Tap into this state of inactivity and focus on the perpetual indulgence of spoiling yourself. What joy may come from a little breathing space?

Get the Right Equipment

Getting the right equipment is one of the best things that you can use that will help you when it comes to improving your culinary skills.I have a kitchen full of implements and tools—rice cookers, blenders, cleavers, and beaters.

They make a huge difference in the way I’m able to sizzle and bake. Some are modern gadgets that plug in, whirl and beep.

Others are simple tools—the cast iron skillet handed down from my grandmother. The wooden spatulas my grandfather lathed in his shop.

Time in bed also requires having the right accessories at hand to keep you inert and happily occupied.

Make sure you have plenty of water, along with the books and articles you’ve been meaning to read. Set up your bedside toolkit with devices, chargers, headsets, reading glasses and lip balm. Lipstick or hats are optional.

I placed my favorite puppets, crystals, and bells around to keep me company.    

Discover New Ideas

Branching out and broadening culinary skills is imperative to keep the flames of desire hot in the kitchen.Trying new recipes is one of the best things you can do to keep things interesting. And this might even mean Googling things like ‘what are Oysters Rockefeller?’  Do you have to travel to the Klondike to make baked Alaska?

While lounging in bed, you don’t have to doom-scroll the news or binge-watch movies. Bring some spice into your time alone.

Download a language app and learn Spanish or French. Listen to undiscovered music, put together a puzzle, write your autobiography. Learn to meditate.  

Don’t Be Afraid to Experiment

There are a lot of things that play a part in helping you to improve your kitchen skills, and you shouldn’t be afraid to experiment when cooking.

My grandmother let me play in the kitchen while she made German Kuchen. I mixed dry beans with honey and flour, pickles and potato chips, rhubarb sauce over Special K.

Because of this wanton permission, I am not afraid to concoct the most delicious meals from ingredients I have at hand.

Some have been failures, like the mozzarella that turned into a hockey puck. Others have been sources of magnificence, such as my rolled lasagna with kale and butternut squash.

How to experiment in bed? Bring out that old blanket bought once-upon-a-time when you traveled. Wrap yourself in it and time travel back.

Rest a pillow under your legs and let your head lay flat. What does it feel like on one side of your body? How are the sensations and tensions different when you turn? 

Examine your inner dialogue.

Hang upside down.

Go inside and remember who you were before you were born. Can you find that place?

Imagine what it will be like to go back.

Themed Nights

I have hosted many a themed Middle Eastern or German-themed dinner soiree. It helped move the creative juices and brought people together in dialogue and poetry. 

Themes are pure inspiration.  And it’s important to remember that it is perfectly possible to eat well and stay on a budget, and having themed dinners is a good way of being able to embrace this moving forward. 

A themed evening in bed with yourself requires a bit more imagination. Be it geographical, historical, or fantastical. There is freedom in playing a new part.

Clearly, I must have a bit of fever inside me as I write these lines.

I take my kitchen skills with me now…back to bed.

Eat well and rest.