References + Comments

References:

Butler, M. (2011). Participation in Occupation II. Unpublished, cited with the permission of the author. Otago Polytechnic School of Occupational Therapy, Dunedin.

Caulton, R. & Dickson, R.  (2007). What’s going on? Finding an explanation for what we do.  In J. Creek & A. Lawson-Porter (Eds.), Contemporary issues in occupational therapy (pp. 87-114).  Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Crepeau, E.B.(2007). Analysing occupation and activity: a way of thinking about occupational performance. In E.B. Crepeau, S.E. Cohn & B.A.B. Schell (Eds.), Willard & Spackman’s occupational therapy (10e.d., pp. 189-1980). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkin.

Christiansen, C. & Baum, C. (eds)(1997). Occupational Therapy enabling function and wellbeing. 2^nd ed. Slack: New Jersey.

Shepherd, R. & Raats, M. (2006). The psychology of food choice (frontiers in nutritional science). UK: CABI.

 

Simmons, M. & La Table, S. (). Things looks love” Implements, ingredients, recipes. USA: Andrews McMeel Publishing.

Sunderland, J (2010). Adaptive living and occupation: food and culture. Unpublished, cited with the permission of the author. Otago Polytechnic School of Occupational Therapy, Dunedin.

Merriam-Webster. (2011). Ambience. Retrieved 23^rd Oct from, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ambience.

Comments:

 

Practical Considerations

Simmons & La Table (2008) discuss why making sure everything is available beforehand when cooking is important. They sate “having the right ingredients and tools for a specific job makes cooking easier and more fun, the results often taste better (p. vii).”

Practical considerations play an important role in cooking. Every day is a different day; each day presents new opportunities. As I stated in my previous posts, mood is a huge motivation factor if I want to cook, therefore I consider it as a practical consideration. There is no point for me to start an activity if I am not feeling it, in most cases; I would do a sloppy job of it. When I want to cook, I wold have to put everything into consideration, this would include; ingredients, appliances, utensils, amount of people I am cooking for etc.

Today I wanted to cook gourmet pizza for everyone. I usually make the base three hours before and leave it to rise. I like to use special sauces for this pizza, and most always you can find it at Nandos. I had previously bought some, but there weren’t any left for today, which meant that I had to drive up all the way to the city center just to get these sauces. I did not have the time to do that so I had to look for alternatives. Therefore, ingredients would come under practical considerations and the lack of it did not create the right circumstances for me to cook a gourmet pizza.

Another practical consideration was time; this is a huge factor when it comes to cooking. In this instance, the time of the day, did not permit me to prepare the base and insufficient time to go and buy the ingredients also hindered me from cooking this food, therefore, I decided to leave it for another day. Usually, I make sure everything is available the day before, or I decide to cook something a day before, this gives me ample time to make sure everything I need is available.

Reference:

Simmons, M. & La Table, S. (). Things looks love” Implements, ingredients, recipes. USA: Andrews McMeel Publishing.

Ambience

The Merriam-Webster dictionary (2011) defines ambience as “a feeling or mood associated with a particular place, person or thing.”

I associate ambience with the environment of the kitchen when I am cooking and the dining room when everyone is seated, eating their food. It usually depends on the people around me during these times. My mood is considerably different when I am alone cooking and eating my meals to when there is a large group of us in the kitchen and sitting in the dining room eating whilst conversing together in a relaxed atmosphere. Although there are times where I am content making a simple meal for myself - nothing that needs considerable amount of effort – and park myself in front of the television or my laptop. Ambience is important because it creates a nice environment where I am able to enjoy myself, have a good time with family and friends while making special memories.

Shephard and Raats (2006) discuss the need for ambience; “ changes in intake can be detected with different numbers of people being present, food accessibility, eating location, room ambience and food colour (cited in Stroebele and de Castro, 2004, p.295).” This shows that people are more likely to eat right and find enjoyment during that time, if ambience provides the right circumstances. I know when I cook, it is important what my mood is, how the environment improves what I am feeling and having my family or friends around me to share my time with.

References:

Shepherd, R. & Raats, M. (2006). The psychology of food choice (frontiers in nutritional science). UK: CABI

Merriam-Webster. (2011). Ambience. Retrieved 23^rd Oct from, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ambience

Affordances – Part Two

Cooking presents lots of opportunities for aesthetics. I feel the most aesthetic part of cooking is in the finished product. The presentation, taste, colour, aroma all come together in perfect harmony at the end. Therefore I feel how successful the completion is, is compared to the aesthetics of the finished product. However, unsuccessful completion (Uncooked, or burnt food) increases frustration and decreases motivation, thus aesthetics is very much part of my cooking.

Physical

Is described as the man-made aspects of the world we live in (Crepeau, 2007). The main physical aspects of this activity are the accessibility of good quality appliances in the kitchen and availability of ingredients. If there is significant environmental barrier (i.e. broken appliances), it hinders the successful completion of an activity. Having access to what I need when I cook is a source of motivation to do the best of my ability. We are encouraged to sincerely do our best in whatever we do; we call this ‘Ihsan’.

Spirituality

Crepeau (2007) defines spirituality as “the fundamental orientation of a person’s life that which inspires and motivates that individual (p.190).” Having the opportunity to engage in this activity with no limits either because of necessity or leisure reason is something I am deeply grateful for. The spiritual sense of it is being grateful, showing sincere reverence for what I do all the while being generous with it. This is influences by my history which was completely opposite to the present time. I did not have the opportunity to engage fully in cooking as a leisure activity let alone as a necessity; as we lived a meager life, we made do with whatever came our way. Sometimes hardly anything came by. Therefore, I feel that my spirituality is intertwined with my history.

Reference:

Crepeau, E.B.(2007). Analysing occupation and activity: a way of thinking about occupational performance. In E.B. Crepeau, S.E. Cohn & B.A.B. Schell (Eds.), Willard & Spackman’s occupational therapy (10e.d., pp. 189-1980). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkin.

Affordance - Part One

Affordances are defined as “anything which the environment can offer the individual which is pertinent to the role challenge and can facilitate role competence (Christiansen & Baum 1997).” This is shown in the personal growth a person goes through when engaging in any activity. For me, the personal effects of cooking in my life have been discussed below.

Communication

In year one, we studied about food and culture, a quote that stood out for me was by Nigella Lawson (2004, cited in Sunderland, 2010) in which she states, “cooking has many functions, and only one of them is about feeding people. When we go into a kitchen, indeed when we even just think about going into a kitchen, we are both creating and responding to an idea we hold about ourselves, about what kind of person we are or wish to be. How we eat and what we eat lies at the heart of who we are as – individuals, families, communities.” This is particularly poignant because I feel cooking is essential for my wellbeing, not only physically but also mentally and spiritually. When I am in the kitchen, I feel more competent than in any other environment I could be in. Cooking can be done for individual gain but I feel it is more fulfilling if done for communal or familial gain. It gives me endless opportunities to express myself fully; it is unlimited because there is always room for improvement – learning new ways of cooking using new recipes. Communication between the environment (safety, hygiene), people (favourited dishes) and occupation (sense of accomplishment) is very important when I am cooking.

Action Properties

Is defined as “the indication of what to do next afforded by the activity (Butler, 2011).” Change is always inherent in cooking, not only to the person but also environment and as an occupation. Cooking reflects the stage a person is at – interests, habits etc. The type of cooking I enjoy changed as I grew older, motivation is influence intrinsically, and at present what motivates me is by the kind of person I want to be; healthy, competent and content.

Reference:

Butler, M. (2011). Participation in Occupation II. Unpublished, cited with the permission of the author. Otago Polytechnic School of Occupational Therapy, Dunedin.

Christiansen, C. & Baum, C. (eds)(1997). Occupational Therapy enabling function and wellbeing. 2^nd ed. Slack: New Jersey.

Sunderland, J (2010). Adaptive living and occupation: food and culture. Unpublished, cited with the permission of the author. Otago Polytechnic School of Occupational Therapy, Dunedin.