It's All in the Scent

At a recent dinner gathering, someone commented that she is usually unsure when something is done cooking.  I told her it's all in the scent.  I can smell when something is done baking in the oven or cooking on the stovetop.   The food changes smell.  I can't describe it.  I just know when it's time to take it out of the oven or turn off the stove.  Unfortunately... sometime I would be too busy doing something else when I smell it and I figured, "Just another couple of minutes wouldn't hurt," to finish up what I was doing and I find that I had overcooked something.  Dang!  When I smell and know, I have to rush to the kitchen to remove it from the heat source.

I am truly blessed with a great olfactory ability.  If I walk down the street with my dog, I can smell what each house is cooking.  Unfortunately, I live in an area where there are many college students so I smell a lot of frozen pizzas, frozen chicken nuggets, and frozen french fries.  Yech.  I usually can smell Subway a few blocks away.  I hate the smell of their bread.  My "Subway" alert goes off when I recognize that familiar nasty odor.

Funny, that 'someone' was asking her husband at a later time if something was done cooking.  He said that perhaps they should have me come by to do the 'scent test' to let them know it was done.  I laughed when he shared this account with me.

I have heard that mindfulness practices do help improve one's ability to smell.  Cooking is a practice of mindfulness.  Did I always have that ability to detect when food is done cooking?  Nope.  I have to be in a good place to have that ability-- meaning a healthy home environment and in tune with my mindfulness practice.  Sometime when my mind goes into a million directions, I am detached from my ability to smell.  Thus, it is often good to be grounded when you're cooking and smelling to avoid setting the kitchen on fire, so to speak.