From Trauma to Taste:

I grew up always having a homemade meal on the table.

My mom worked a lot, but she still took the time to cook something ahead for me and my little sister.

If she couldn’t, we ate at my grandmother’s, who lived downstairs.

Even today, my mother is an amazing cook. There’s just something special about the way food tastes when she makes it—it’s always better than when you make it yourself!

Since moving out years ago, I’ve never cooked a microwave dinner (I don’t even own a microwave) or relied on fast food. I always try to make meals from scratch, using fresh, local ingredients. Yes, sometimes I do cook what might be considered ‘unhealthy’ food because I believe it’s also about flavor and enjoyment.

I’m really grateful to have grown up in a household where cooking was important.

After middle school, I attended a tourism and business school.

I hated it.

The cooking lessons were the worst—a complete nightmare, with a teacher who was always yelling. We had to prepare four-course meals in two hours, which felt like torture. The grading system for the final exam was absurd.

That experience made me hate cooking.

For years, I avoided it entirely and lived on unhealthy food because it seemed cool and tasted good.

After graduating, I went to the USA for a year as an au pair.
The family chose me partly because I claimed to have cooking skills—they wanted someone to cook regularly.

So, I had to start cooking again, even though I hated it. I was still traumatized by those school cooking classes.

But in the US, I began to cook again, making traditional Austrian dishes for my host family, and they loved them.

At some point, I started to enjoy cooking again.

I experimented with different recipes, and the best part was that I could cook how I liked—no screaming teacher, no timed four-course meals, no pressure, and no one telling me I was using the wrong knife.

I reconnected with cooking.

Today, I absolutely love it. I make as much as possible from scratch and enjoy trying new recipes and cuisines. I spend so much time in the kitchen—it’s crazy, haha!

Cooking is such an important part of my life now. Of course, there are days when I feel too lazy to cook or dread doing the dishes, but having a fresh, homemade meal is so important to me that I just get it done.

This passion for cooking is one reason I decided to go part-time at my day job.

I need time to focus on making healthy, delicious food because it's not just about the present—it's about long-term health and enjoyment.

It can be very time-consuming to decide what to cook for the next few days, what dips to make, spending time at the grocery store and farmers market, and still finding ways to enjoy the process.

Cooking isn’t just a chore; it’s a way of life.

Have a nice week!

Katrin

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