Crazylady Story
All of my life, people have told me that I was a great cook. It was what I did. Cooking was how I expressed myself. It was how I showed my love for others. I really put my heart and soul into it. I thought that I had a special gift. And then…
In 1999 I got very tired and sluggish. Cooking was not fun anymore. I hated having to fix meals for my husband and seven children. In fact, I really did not like much of anything. Somehow I had slowly lost my joy, my love for life, my crazy carefree nature. When I was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer in 2000, I realized that I had put everything into serving others, neglecting myself. I literally had drained myself right down to the bottom.
For over a year I did very little cooking. I had no energy or desire for it. My time was spent fixing the ill health I’d brought into my life. With God’s help and a lot of hard work, I was able to heal myself and find the energy to begin my life anew. My cancer experience taught me many valuable things, some of which have helped me realize that being a great cook is not just a gift but is a desire and choice that anyone can make.
Becoming great at cooking is just like becoming great at anything. There are a few key ingredients that are paramount and I discovered a recipe that worked for me. I had a desire to take the abundant treasures of this world and mix them to create something wonderful. When I was twelve I started with recipes that were Tried and True (Betty Crocker became a trusted friend) and then moved from there into my own creative cooking expression. I learned how to laugh at my successes and my failures realizing that, as Albert Einstein once said, “Failure is nothing more than a starting point for your next adventure, having more knowledge and understanding than you had before”. I learned that using quality ingredients produces the best results. (For me, margarine will never replace good old fashioned butter. Oh yeah!!!!)
Most importantly, I found the love and life inside of me and poured it into what I made, discovering this to be the key ingredient for great cooking. When I am angry or frustrated the food I make never tastes as good as when I am bursting with joy in my heart and full of love for myself and the people I am serving.
For a while there I had lost my joy and my love. I had neglected myself to the point of cancer. I was afraid to let myself go and truly be who I am, thinking that who I am was not good enough. Not any more. I learned that taking care of me is just as important as taking care of others. I learned to feel good about the choices I make independent of outside approval. I learned that I am in charge of my life and that my health and happiness is my responsibility. One of my most difficult lessons was learning to say “no” when it’s the right thing to do.
I have now come full circle to a place where my life and my cooking are beginning to reflect the love and joy I have rediscovered. I am no longer afraid to sing, dance or be silly, anytime or anywhere (just ask the staff at the Manti House Inn where I am the restaurant chef). The crazy carefree whole and healthy Trish has been reborn. Wahoo!!! My daughter Ashley who has really come to like this renewed me, is the one who gave me my nickname Crazylady. I feel it is truly a reflection of the real me.
My greatest desire is that you will find this same carefree love for life that I have found and learn how to pour that life into everything that you do. I hope that you will do as I have done and find out who you really are, not the person you think others want you to be but the person you really are. I hope that you embrace that person and set yourself free. Learn to express the crazylady or crazyguy inside of you. Feel deep down into your heart, find the joy and love for life that is there and then let those things burst from you and be reflected in everything you do. I feel great about being called Crazylady and I would like to invite each and every one of you to join me in this crazy carefree place of love, joy and peace where everything you do feels great and everything you cook tastes great.
With much love to all of you,
Crazylady (Trish Jenkin)
P.S. More information on how I found this place of joy and peace will be found in my next book. It is the story of how cancer came into my life and how I chose to heal, physically and spiritually. Look for it sometime in the near future on my website.
I love feedback!!!!!
All of my life, people have told me that I was a great cook. It was what I did. Cooking was how I expressed myself. It was how I showed my love for others. I really put my heart and soul into it. I thought that I had a special gift. And then…
In 1999 I got very tired and sluggish. Cooking was not fun anymore. I hated having to fix meals for my husband and seven children. In fact, I really did not like much of anything. Somehow I had slowly lost my joy, my love for life, my crazy carefree nature. When I was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer in 2000, I realized that I had put everything into serving others, neglecting myself. I literally had drained myself right down to the bottom.
For over a year I did very little cooking. I had no energy or desire for it. My time was spent fixing the ill health I’d brought into my life. With God’s help and a lot of hard work, I was able to heal myself and find the energy to begin my life anew. My cancer experience taught me many valuable things, some of which have helped me realize that being a great cook is not just a gift but is a desire and choice that anyone can make.
Becoming great at cooking is just like becoming great at anything. There are a few key ingredients that are paramount and I discovered a recipe that worked for me. I had a desire to take the abundant treasures of this world and mix them to create something wonderful. When I was twelve I started with recipes that were Tried and True (Betty Crocker became a trusted friend) and then moved from there into my own creative cooking expression. I learned how to laugh at my successes and my failures realizing that, as Albert Einstein once said, “Failure is nothing more than a starting point for your next adventure, having more knowledge and understanding than you had before”. I learned that using quality ingredients produces the best results. (For me, margarine will never replace good old fashioned butter. Oh yeah!!!!)
Most importantly, I found the love and life inside of me and poured it into what I made, discovering this to be the key ingredient for great cooking. When I am angry or frustrated the food I make never tastes as good as when I am bursting with joy in my heart and full of love for myself and the people I am serving.
For a while there I had lost my joy and my love. I had neglected myself to the point of cancer. I was afraid to let myself go and truly be who I am, thinking that who I am was not good enough. Not any more. I learned that taking care of me is just as important as taking care of others. I learned to feel good about the choices I make independent of outside approval. I learned that I am in charge of my life and that my health and happiness is my responsibility. One of my most difficult lessons was learning to say “no” when it’s the right thing to do.
I have now come full circle to a place where my life and my cooking are beginning to reflect the love and joy I have rediscovered. I am no longer afraid to sing, dance or be silly, anytime or anywhere (just ask the staff at the Manti House Inn where I am the restaurant chef). The crazy carefree whole and healthy Trish has been reborn. Wahoo!!! My daughter Ashley who has really come to like this renewed me, is the one who gave me my nickname Crazylady. I feel it is truly a reflection of the real me.
My greatest desire is that you will find this same carefree love for life that I have found and learn how to pour that life into everything that you do. I hope that you will do as I have done and find out who you really are, not the person you think others want you to be but the person you really are. I hope that you embrace that person and set yourself free. Learn to express the crazylady or crazyguy inside of you. Feel deep down into your heart, find the joy and love for life that is there and then let those things burst from you and be reflected in everything you do. I feel great about being called Crazylady and I would like to invite each and every one of you to join me in this crazy carefree place of love, joy and peace where everything you do feels great and everything you cook tastes great.
With much love to all of you,
Crazylady (Trish Jenkin)
P.S. More information on how I found this place of joy and peace will be found in my next book. It is the story of how cancer came into my life and how I chose to heal, physically and spiritually. Look for it sometime in the near future on my website.
I love feedback!!!!!