The new film Julie & Julia is inspiring a lot of people to get in the kitchen and learn how to cook. Personally, I have not seen the film because Jen, my ADD partner, hates going to the movies. I'll catch it when it comes on HBO.
Even though I haven't seen the movie, I've come to the realization that I'm not getting any younger, and I need to learn how to cook at least something. I've been relying on Jen's phenomenal cooking for my entire adult life. It's high time I got in the kitchen and actually cooked something myself.
As my family will tell you, I'm a disaster in the kitchen. Even when I follow a recipe, everything comes out either burned or undercooked, and completely devoid of taste. In fact, I'm lucky that Jen is such an excellent cook, otherwise I'd be eating cereal every night.
But this summer, I've been making an effort to cook more. So far I've made roast beef, steak, hamburgers, and chicken breasts. They haven't been the greatest meals of my life, but they were edible, and that's an achievement!
So just as Julie had Julia, I had hoped to have Jen to guide me on this journey. But as it turns out, she's no help at all.
People with ADD tend to have little to no interest in details. Jen is a big picture thinker, and she's a big picture cook. Her impressive repertoire has been established not by following recipes to the letter, but through creativity and gut instinct. So when I ask questions in the kitchen, I get vague, almost philosophical answers:
"Jen, when do I flip the steak?"
"You'll know by looking at it."
"Jen, how much seasoning should I use?"
"Taste it and see."
"Jen, what should the internal temperature of the meat be?"
"You'll know when it's done."
Because Jen cooks by instinct and by experience, she's incapable of giving me the details that I need in order to make a successful meal. It's very frustrating, but we laugh about it.
Maybe I should take a cue from Jen, not worry about the details so much, and learn to trust my gut. Or I could learn from Julia Child and drop everything on the floor!
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