AN HOMAGE TO MY AIRFRYER BY MARGOTH QUIROS

Cooking is one of my passions. I lose myself in the rituals, the flavors, and the fun! I see it as a way to make magic, and I legitimately believe positive affirmations about the food I create are my favorite compliments to receive. Marrying new flavors and ingredients together is my way to experiment and exercise my creative muscles. From raw ideas and components to the finished product, the cooking process is engaging and can be different every time. I learn from every cooking mistake I make, and I become a better cook because of them. Every time I make a dish, I get to make it distinct, uniquely iterate the flavors, and hopefully learn from my past failures. However, one of my biggest problems with this beautiful hobby is that I take forever to cook and hate doing dishes.

Furthermore, now that I have in-person classes and find myself on-campus a lot, I feel like I never have the time to cook anymore. My lack of time has been quite a struggle for me because cooking is a creative passion and exercise for me. Thus, recently my obsession has been the air fryer I took (with consent) from my mother's kitchen at the beginning of the spring semester. Now with my air fryer, I can cook all the time with less worry about the pile of dishes I would create or the amount of time I'd have to schedule out of my day just to make a meal. I have produced some of the most delicious things I have cooked in my life with my air fryer, which is saying something considering the number of cooking classes I have attended and restaurants I have cooked in. This new kitchen gadget has allowed me to push myself out of my comfort zone and grow as a cook and flavor developer. I have discovered new ways to cook foods I already love in quicker ways which have become staples in my life. I can also cook foods that scared me to cook often before, like raw meats. I made a massive, half-baked chocolate chip cookie so delicious I had to make a TikTok of me making it, as you can see below. Although, I have also had many failures with the air fryer, primarily forgetting about my food and burning it to a crisp on accident. So what my brussel sprouts were charred black? Now I know they don't belong in the air fryer for over 15 minutes, and I could've lost something much more delicious!