Cooking is a form of self-expression, even when we don’t put that much effort into it.

A microwave meal suggests that we are not interested in proving anything to anybody after a long day; an elaborate, multiple-course spread for Valentine’s date night shows that we are out to impress somebody special. Just about everything that we choose to consume is a reflection of our background, personality, and where we are at in life. We do not have to be thinking that hard about it for it to speak volumes.

After all, it is not like the majority of us are writing a personal essay in our heads every time that we enter the kitchen. For the most part, we just want something tasty and relatively simple that is going to satiate our hunger, and maybe that of our loved ones as well. Knowing how to cook is an important life skill that gives us the power to nourish ourselves and others, so it shouldn’t be overlooked. Just because it is relatively common doesn’t mean that it is not special.