Monday, February 13, 2012

No more meals.... for now.

Ginny’s Kitchen is no longer producing meals – but that doesn’t necessarily spell THE END for the GK business.
The other day I scrubbed the words "Ginny’s Kitchen – Food on the Fly” off my sign on the fence. I could have just taken the whole thing down but I love the heart logo that my friend Kate designed, and I wanted to leave it up there.
We live on a busy corner, and I like the fact that visitors and locals drive past every day, seeing a symbol of love standing out there for no particular reason. Some people might know it went with my kitchen, but most will have no idea what it means, and so I hope that it just makes them feel a little bit warmer on the inside, remembering love, especially in a beautiful place like Red Hill.

Underneath the sign, we’ve actually got a new sign, advertising local avocados. Maybe people will think that’s what the heart is about? We’ve struck a great deal with the avocado grower where we get a regular supply of his produce in exchange for displaying his sign, so I don’t mind him taking advantage of the love heart at all!

So what’s going to happen to Ginny’s Kitchen?

After all the hard work of last year – hours spent developing labels and recipes and “the brand” I don’t intend to leave it all behind, but I had to make a choice between regular employment (I’m a public servant in my other life) and lots of cooking, and for now the regular employment has won out.

I got to a point where I needed to be able to grow the business in order to make it worth while, but I didn’t have enough time to do that (as well as cook, work, run a family and have some time to myself!), and towards the end of the year I began to feel like I wasn’t doing anything well.

It is a little frustrating, as there are plenty of opportunities to grow the meals business in all sorts of directions, but now that I’ve stopped doing it, I actually feel kind of relieved. The blurred lines between home and work didn’t suit me. I need to find another way to be creative and lucrative – outside of my precious family life.

Food is my creative outlet. It’s appealing to me because it has a tangible product at the end of your hard work, and it’s usually something that others appreciate. I enjoyed having a wider audience to share my love of cooking with, but once it became hard work, I stopped enjoying it as much. And since I’ve stopped cooking for the business, I’ve been taking enormous pleasure in tending my veggie garden, cooking simple salads and BBQs, and playing with my kids

Eating well is a life-long passion and pursuit, which I hope I can continue to share with others in as many ways as possible. In my other work I still get to do this through Community Kitchens (communitykitchens.org.au). I also want to get better a sharing thoughts and recipes on this blog. I can cook for my friends and family and then I will just have to wait and see what the future has in store…

Anyone got a good recipe for avocados (other than guacamole!)?

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