Life is important and work is important. I am lucky enough to have a job which is work as well as my passion. Thus my vacation is work, and then in many cases work is a vacation. Yet that is not true. Work is still work. It is enjoyable and it stimulates my brain and allows me free thought, but it is work.
So my question is why do I need to justify my work? I work at home, I work in the kitchen, I work in my sleep. It is true, and somehow I feel the need to express the fact that I am working rather than just knowing I am working well.
The justification of work would be intriguing if it was only my thoughts, yet is actually applied to the entire working world. Every day I am told about how much someone works rather than how well and efficiently. If for instance I was able to get a forty hour week accomplished in twenty then I would have twenty hours for myself. If I and others can work efficiently and in a focused manner to deliver more in a shorter period of time do I need to spend the other hours justifying my work rather than letting my work speak for itself; it has a pretty nice voice.
How then do I apply these thoughts to food? It does not have to be difficult to prepare great food and ingredients; rather it takes a strong will to reject mediocrity. Spend time enjoying the process rather than justifying the hardships.