Previously on The Bespectacled Girl…
The Bespectacled Girl introduced us to her beloved tote bag, which is essentially a bottomless pit that holds anything and everything you can think of. Somehow, she still manages to fish out exactly what she needs within seconds.
The Bespectacled Girl has a problem.
A very serious, very dangerous problem.
Instagram recipe reels.
She cannot scroll past one without thinking, “That looks easy!”
Every time she watches one, she immediately begins imagining how she would present the finished dish. To no one in particular, of course. But she firmly believes that every meal deserves a dramatic reveal.
She daydreams of the day she would end up on the set of a reality TV cooking show. The judges were impressed, the audience was emotional, and the standing ovation lasted several minutes.
History suggests otherwise.
Yet another long and tiring day at work, she walks in exhausted beyond measure. Stashes her tote bag into its designated parking slot near the shoe rack and collapses onto the sofa.
She starts scrolling through her Instagram. Three scrolls later, she spots a recipe that looks interesting (everything does). The lady in the reel is looking all chirpy and fresh, effortlessly transforming ordinary ingredients into something that looks like it belongs on a restaurant menu.
The cheerful music plays in the background, adding to her increasing enthusiasm. The creator smiles confidently and says, “Save this recipe and try it today!”
She nods faithfully, as if the creator can somehow see her through the screen. The exhaustion she felt earlier ebbs away. Her inner chef has awakened.
Before she could think twice, her fingers tapped away on her phone to order ingredients for this new recipe. “Gosh, that looks delicious,” she thinks. “I can absolutely do this.”
Several hours later, the kitchen tells a different story.
The once-pristine, white countertop is now decorated with mysterious splashes of red, yellow, and green.
There’s flour on the counter. Flour on the floor. Flour on her shirt. Flour on the refrigerator. Somehow, flour was on all the vessels inside the drawers. The most remarkable part? The recipe did not require flour.
Every kitchen has a villain. For The Bespectacled Girl, it is the blender lid.
She decides to make a tangy sauce. She puts the ingredients in the blender jar. The lid goes on (at least, she believes it does). She gets distracted. She starts daydreaming about accepting compliments from celebrity chefs. She turns the blender on.
Moments later, the sauce is now the latest piece of abstract art on her wall.
Somehow, The Bespectacled Girl, much to our surprise, occasionally manages to create a genuinely impressive dish.
She spends an hour cooking, fifteen minutes in plating, and twenty minutes hunting for natural light.
She arranges the dish carefully. Adjusts a garnish. Moves a spoon four millimetres to the left. Takes one beautiful, aesthetic photograph, perfect for the Gram.
And immediately drops the plate. The photo survived. The food did not.
You see, she is a serial butterfinger.
Contrary to popular belief, this is not a recent development.
As she stares at the fallen plate, she is suddenly transported back to childhood.
Back to a lunch plate. Back to a cartoon, she was engrossed in. Back to the moment where she was so deeply pulled into the cartoon that she dropped her entire meal on the floor.
The floor received lunch before she did.
Needless to say, her mother was not amused and promptly made her sit on the floor to finish the rest of her meal, with a side of stern looks and ultimatums.
And yet, every time another recipe appears on her feed, she believes. This one will be different. This one will be easy. This one will not require wiping batter off the ceiling.
Her kitchen knows better.
Before you go…
If you’re looking for your next read, don’t forget to visit The Books I Love, where I’ve gathered some of my favourite books and why they mean so much to me.
You can also find me on Instagram at @thesoulfulnib, where I share books, blog updates, and little moments from everyday life.
Until next time,
The Soulful Nib
The Soulful Nib 