Fighting kitchen burnout

September 15, 2020 by
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These days my emotions are whipsawing back and forth between joy from time spent in the garden feeling connected to the earth to a sense of dread from eerily red sunsets that are the result of huge fires burning a thousand miles away. All of this plus surpassing six months of an altered reality that means very little socializing and (in my case at least) no respite from cooking other than the very occasional takeout pizza means I can become exhausted from the mere mention of preparing yet another meal. Fighting burnout in the kitchen has gone from a short skirmish to an extended, drawn out battle. Maggie Hoffman at Epicurious understands this emotional state and provides advice on how we can cope with these emotions.

This burnout can happen to everyone whether or not they love to cook. For those who normally take great pleasure in preparing meals or baking treats, reaching this stage can feel especially harsh. According to psychotherpist Anna Lindberg Cedar who is quoted in the article, one thing we should remember is that burnout is not the same thing as stress, and it needs to be approached a bit differently. “We experience stress with the adjustment to any life change, positive or negative. Getting married causes stress. Job promotions. But with burnout, you stop functioning. You stop doing the things that you typically care about, or you do them, but not very well, or without much feeling. You begin to lose touch with who you are,” she explains.

Although it may seem counter-intuitive, Cedar says we should refocus our efforts on the task that used to provide great comfort instead of taking a break from it or avoiding it. This doesn’t mean just slog through it, she notes. Instead, it means approaching cooking with mindfulness, concentrating on each sensation as you perform routine things like chopping vegetables or stirring a pot. Cooking with a focus on each sensation, she says, “can help you find respite even in a chaotic world.”

The article suggests ways we can remain connected with family and friends with whom we would normally share our meals, and other mechanisms to employ to keep the kitchen spark alive. For me this has meant pulling down cookbooks that I have not read in awhile, just for the sake of reading them. I don’t put any pressure on myself to find tomorrow’s lunch, I merely leaf through them and take it all in. Sometimes a beguiling recipe coaxes me back into the kitchen, but even if not, I always find browsing my collection to be time well spent.

Category: Antipasto

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6 Comments

  • annmartina  on  September 15, 2020

    Thank you for this. Cooking is my passion but the endless round of breakfast, lunch, dinner and everything in between, plus doing dishes, has really been wearing me down. I especially dread dinner time every night. Didn’t we just eat dinner last night? I’m using more convenience foods than I ever believed I would. I made graham crackers last week and forgot to put the sugar in, and even when I thought they didn’t look right, didn’t bother to think it through. It’s driving me crazy.

    I miss eating out a lot. We have been doing the occasional pizza. We’ve done one curbside pickup. My husband lost his job in July, and while we’re fine for now, I try to be more careful. Also there are health concerns in our family that don’t make dining in-person appealing.

    I’m noticing a real lack of variety in the limited menu items offered from many restaurants in our area that don’t make me feel inspired to order. Everyone is doing fried chicken, burgers and some form of pizza. Also, we live in a suburban area so many places on our list to try are an hour or more round trip for pickup. This wouldn’t be a big deal for a night out. But for pickup should we eat in the car for it to taste the best?

    Last week I was off from work and wanted the treat of doing at least a couple of dinners from curbside. The restaurant I really wanted to try was adding on a 20% administrative fee to a curbside order that did not include gratuity. I understand restaurants are hurting and looking for ways to recoup income, but I just couldn’t do it. The cost of the meal that I’m picking up with no added service + tax + admin fee + a decent tip – I just couldn’t justify it.

    I know this all sounds really whiny, but I’m feeling really whiny right now.

    Thank goodness Kelly Fields book “The Good Book of Southern Baking” arrived last week and lit a little spark in me. The cornbread recipe is out of this world.

  • dc151  on  September 15, 2020

    I’m so burnt out from cooking! I did get a reprieve this weekend, on self-isolation pending covid-testing. Family had to fend for themselves for a few days. Luckily I’m all healthy, back to the cooking grind!

  • TrudieA  on  September 15, 2020

    Thank you for this from me too. This struck a chord. I am gradually finding my way back from kitchen burnout, doing just as the author above does: re-reading my lovely cookbooks and only cooking from them if a recipe calls to me. I’m also part of an online food group that’s utterly nice, encouraging and joyful (all types of food, people contributing from all over the world). It’s restoring me little by little.

  • Rinshin  on  September 15, 2020

    Interesting. I don’t feel burnt out at all. There are just the two of us now so it is satisfying trying to figure out what to make and eat everyday. Not enough days to make and eat all the food that interests me at this point in my life. Perhaps if younger and still working, my feelings may be different. I cook constantly and my husband does the dishes and cleans our home. It works well for us. I no longer make or eat desserts much though so that part of cooking is mostly behind me.

  • tmjellicoe  on  September 16, 2020

    I, too, was burnt out. My passion and joy of cooking was gone after SO many meals being unappreciated by three teens. I kept reducing the variety and testing of new recipes hoping they would even start making requests. The joy is returning now that all three have moved out (hopefully now realizing the effort I’ve been making) and it is mostly me to cook for. Just me until my husband and I can finally move into one house. At least he appreciates the effort.

  • Zephyrness  on  September 17, 2020

    Annmartina, I too live a less than urban life, and my husband and I found a pick me up which might help you. Instead of takeout for dinner, we have done takeout for picnic lunch. Our local parks have been fairly empty and its easy to find a spot not far from where ever we have gotten the food. Just the change of venue has made a big difference in our mental health.

    I think I am more burned out by shopping. My local small town store has the same things, so I buy the same things and easily get into a rut, cooking the same foods in the same general way. I used to be able to get to a large global grocer on a regular basis, but am restricting that to once a month right now. So there a few days a week when I have a wealth of unusual produce, then back to cauliflower and green beans. I look thru my cookbooks, find some lovely recipe, but am missing an ingredient and don’t feel that it is entirely wise to rush out and buy that one thing. I am lucky that my husband likes to cook, and often cooks on the weekends. My older children are home for now, and though they don’t always eat with us, they always do the dishes, even the ones they had nothing to do with, bless em.

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