Today I made some coconut eggs, a favorite in our house, and it got me thinking about how I categorize the different things I do.
When I decided to start a 365 challenge of working on something creative every day, I didn’t stop to define what would count as “something creative”. As a crafter and sewer, some things are obvious. Crochet a scarf: creative. Sew a quilt top: creative. There are other things I don’t seem to think of that way. Try a new recipe: that’s just cooking. Sew a button back on a pair of pants: mending.
So for some reason cooking doesn’t fall into my self-decided category of being creative, but making candy does. Even though it is much simpler to make candy than to assemble a pot pie or make home-made spaetzle. I have a friend who creates incredible meals. Ones that take hours to prepare and might start with her making a mole sauce from scratch or cutting vegetables to the exact perfect size for beautiful colorful salads. I consider her creative.
The same goes for different projects around the house. When I strip and refinish a chair, that counts. When I strip and repaint wood work, that doesn’t. Should it?
Is creativity a feeling, or an action? And why is one person’s creativity not mine? Questions I am pondering today. I don’t expect to come up with an answer, but it is making me think about what I am doing, and why. Perhaps it has something to do with necessity vs. option. I NEED to eat. The wall NEEDS to be painted. But using that cute fabric or pretty yarn to make a bag or a scarf, turning a curbside chair into a bright seat on our porch? That’s just for my soul. The same goes for coconut eggs.
alookatthelittlethings 
I’ve always looked at it from a creating standpoint. I’ve made something with my hands from my mind, therefore I created, therefore I was creative.
So for me cooking has fallen under the creative category if I played with the recipe. Maybe I switch out arborio rice for barley, or instead of dried cranberries I used dried cherries! It’s like art that you experience with all of your senses!
Really though, it boils down to what made you feel creative 🙂
I like the idea of cooking being art you experience with all your senses. I may have to rethink how I categorize certain things since I do go off recipe a lot.