There are so many things that bring me joy; the laughter of children at play, scratching behind the ears of a German Shephard, the smell of the ocean, being surrounded by family, playing the ukulele, cooking for my friends and family. While cooking may not be the best thing in my life, it comes close.
The fact that I have been blind for most of my life hasn’t affected my love of cooking. It has meant that I have had to invent different ways to do something; know when the onions are translucent, when to flip burgers on the grill, and how to measure small amounts of liquids, but none of this has kept me out of the kitchen or kept me from tackling complicated recipes.
When talking about cooking with others who are blind or have low vision, I can’t help but be a little sad about their surprise when I tell them what I cooked for dinner or when I serve them a plate of fresh off the grill steak, twice baked potatoes, Mexican grilled corn and freshly baked rolls. Most of them limit their cooking to simpler things like spaghetti with sauce out of a jar or tacos using precooked shells out of a box. While that gets you and your family fed, there is little room for innovation and even less nourishment.
I am starting this YouTube channel web site and podcast to bring my joy of cooking as a blind person to those who want to do more in the kitchen for themselves and to inspire those with blind or visually impaired family members to invite them to cook with them and to do so safely and without restriction.
Enough already! Pull out your cook books, tie on your apron, take a look in the refrigerator and let’s get started. I am getting hungry.