Cooking and Pain

Years ago I took a French Pastry cooking class. Every Saturday for several weeks I would spend the day in a classroom learning techniques and dishes with complicated French names. I learned how to mix wet and dry ingredients without a bowl and what was involved in making a really great Ganache. Whisking, lots and lots of whisking. I loved every minute of it. I could make tarts that looked like flowers and eclairs that looked like swans. OK, the chef's looked like swans, mine looked more like an overweight goose with a permanent kink in his neck.

But despite my lack of skills in creating edible fowl, I loved making pastries. I enjoyed the whisking and the mixing and the labor that went into each dish. I loved how the smells would fill the house and how it made me feel comforted. It could have been all the fat and cream too, but let's say it was the smells. When I started having symptoms of RA, it became too difficult to bake. Something that I used to look forward to now caused anxiety and pain. My joints could no longer handle the kneading or rolling or stirring that was required, licking the bowl was still OK though.

So now that I have been on a medication regiment for almost a year I have started to try and find new ways to do the things I love. So here are some tips to make the love of cooking easier.

Get someone else to cook for you!  OK, so we can’t all afford personal chefs, nor can we expect our spouses take on the roll of Julia Childs, so let’s move on. 

·         If you suffer from pain in your legs or back a rubber mat may be the way to go. It could ease the stress on your lower joints. If you have a stool you could alternate between sitting and standing.

·         Stand mixers, food processors and mandolins help with the mixing and the chopping of ingredients. They save on time as well. However, stand mixers are heavy and awkward, so if you can't store it on your countertop, try to have someone else bring it out for you.

·         Limiting the amount of fatigue cooking causes you is a big deal, so if a recipe states that a portion can be done ahead of time, do it. Dividing the work over several days is better than dealing with a flare because you spent all day in the kitchen.

·         Some recipes, especially those for baking, will require you to combine all the dry ingredients right before mixing it with all the wet ingredients. So why not do this the day before? You can split your "baking" over two days and minimize the fatigue. Just keep your dry ingredients in a covered bowl in a cool, dry place.

·         You can do the same with measuring out ingredients.  You can measure out as much as possible on one day and then combine them on the next.

So let’s get back into the kitchen and try something new!