Introduction

Hello everyone, welcome to my blog. This blog is all about the joy of cooking and all the wonderful things that come along with it. Cooking can be enjoyable even as a severely disabled person, like myself. I have Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, which is a neuromuscular disorder, all the muscles in my body get weaker and weaker over time. I was born with it as it is genetic. I'm almost 30 now and I am to the point now that I am so weak, I can't barely do anything for myself. I can only use my computer without help from others. I've been fully confined to a motorized wheelchair since I was about 12 I believe. I am on a ventilator 24/7 because my lungs are too weak. I have a feeding tube because I am too weak to chew and swallow, I'm at risk of aspirating food, which can cause me to get pneumonia, other respiratory infections or cause me to choke. I no longer eat food by mouth because of these risks.

You may be curious as to why I enjoy cooking if I cannot eat what I make. I get joy out of making and seeing others happy when they eat the food I make. It's also a fun activity, I enjoy learning new things, being creative and the scent of the food. I cannot cook at all either without help. I have 24/7 nursing care and I have one nurse named Brenda who helps me cook. She enjoys it as well. So every Wednesday we cook something. We either bake desserts, make an appetizer, snack or meal. You could say that I am the chef and she is the cook. I either find a recipe online or create my own recipe using the things I've learned about cooking online, from watching food network and my experience through actually cooking. I make a shopping list of everything I need and someone picks the stuff up for me. I've gained enough experience and confidence to cook without a recipe and measurements, accept for when I bake of course. I'm very close to learning how to create my own baking recipes too. I haven't baked much recently but I'm quite experienced with making different kinds of cheesecake.

I very much enjoy cooking even though I'm disabled. I try to see the positive in every situation, every struggle I have faced has just made me stronger and who I am. I've lost the ability to do so much but I stay positive and persevere. I am so blessed to have good kind people in my life that help me with the things I cannot do my self. If it wasn't for them, I don't know where I'd be now. Despite my limitations, I live a truly joyful and fulfilling life.

Every week I will share my cooking with you, pictures, recipes, experiences, knowledge, my personal story, etc. Please enjoy and check back from time to time. Thanks!

Jon Gardner (chef)
Nurse Brenda (sous chef)