In this week’s tutorial we talked about ongoing activities that are meaningful to us, what activities we do each day and which area these activities fit into.
Childhood Memories
Throughout childhood I didn’t realise how much thought and preparation went into meals. I simply took it for granted. I thought the dishes would magically get done after each meal, the food would magically be in the cupboard and the dinner was magically on the table for me to eat. However, growing up, that fantasy faded and I began to realise that fantasy world was my mother and father.
The Beginning
I really enjoy cooking and baking. When I bake I always seem to enjoy the mixture more than the end product. I first learnt how to bake from my mother. I would eat the whole chocolate cake my mother had just made, a couple of hours later, with no crumbs in sight. I had to do something fast so it didn’t look like I had eaten all of the cake. I found the recipe that she used and was glad I could understand the short hand writing in the recipe book of a teaspoon/tablespoon. So I began to bake a chocolate cake. Let’s just say it didn’t turn out the same as mums, it was very obvious with the presentation, and didn’t really taste the same. I think I could have forgotten an important ingredient. Anyhow, Mum arrived home and I wasn’t sure if she noticed. So, that was a wee story about how I first started to bake. I really enjoyed baking, so from that day onwards I have always been interested in baking.
Cooking on the other hand makes me gain weight. The reason for this is, my father always makes a delicious meal therefore I am forced to eat it all up and not leave any trace of food on the plate. I never really cooked while living at home, as I would rather eat my father’s divine meals rather than mine. However both my parents have taught me many recipes.
What does Cooking mean to me?
- Cooking is fun and enjoyable.
- It is an activity that can be done alone or with others.
- It can be creative as recipes can be adapted to suit.
- Presentation is important.
- Relaxation.
- Sense of satisfaction when a recipe is successful.
- Can be given as a gift.
- Gain confidence by experimenting with new recipes.
- Entertaining friends and family.
What is the activity like?
Living on a farm has taught me many things. We can be quite self-sufficient as meat and a great vegetable garden are readily available but if a key ingredient is required for my recipes and I have no shops nearby I have to learn to adapt that recipe. This is something I have enjoyed in my cooking because quite often dishes are created and often never taste the same, which is exciting.
Cooking provides me with ‘me’ time. This is time for me to enjoy cooking, relax and gives me time to think. Alternatively, cooking can become stressful when there is a dead line of when the meal has to be cooked by.
What does it mean to me in Occupational Therapy practise?
- Being able to use the equipment appropriately.
- A big part of cooking is teaching and learning, for example, everyone cooks differently. My parents simply teach me how to cook and I learn new recipes from them or my friends.
- Timing, if there is a time that the meal has to be completed by.
- Multi-tasking, making sure the vegetables are cooked at the same time the meat is.
- Safety Aspect.
- Everyone’s cultural and beliefs are different.
- Using the skill of cooking to teach groups.
Therefore in Occupational Therapy practice it is important to have multi tasking skills, being safe and being aware of surroundings and equipment.
Occupational Therapy and cooking link together in a way that the therapist can ascertain the level of independence of the individual. Most people engage in cooking as it is generally part of everyone’s daily meaningful activity.
