It all started with a single bowl. "It" being my obsession with making all my food "aesthetic;" in other words my interest in how the food I make looks, not just how it tastes. Thus, began my ritual of snapping a photo of my breakfast bowl every morning and sending it to my best friend in Malaysia. For weeks straight, she would wake up expecting a photo of my yoghurt, oats, smoothie, or chia seed pudding topped with some berries, banana slices, coconut flakes, chia seeds, or granola.
Although the obsession only became more extreme when I started living at home, the beginnings could have been detected at UMass whenever I had oatmeal at Worcestor. First of all, Worcestor has the BEST oatmeal on campus– try and fight me on that; it's the perfect temperature, consistency, and viscosity. I can taste the oatmeal as I write this post. Anyway, one of my friends revealed to me how she tops her oatmeal. She would sprinkle granola and sliced almonds in neat rows and finish off her masterpiece with some banana slices. I used to tease her about it and tell her how "extra" she was until I began to do the same. Although I wasn't as meticulous as she was, at the time, once I started living at home I took the habit to a new level. It's me, not her, who started a food account because I liked how my bowls looked, so I guess you could say I'm a bit more obsessed than she is.
When I first began crafting them, I honestly could not articulate what exactly it was about making breakfast bowls I enjoyed. However, as I sit here drafting a blog post entirely dedicated to them, I realize that it is their versatility and reliability I like.
With just a single bowl I can have a breakfast as simple as cereal or as "complex" as a smoothie bowl where I color coordinate every element of it (see pineapple smoothie bowl). Most importantly, without fail, I am always satisfied with my creation. It's this guaranteed pleasure that I enjoy because not only can I unleash my "creative" instincts, but I can be ensured that I'll be fueled for the day.
It all started with a bowl of oats that I threw some strawberries on. I hadn't even bothered to arrange the strawberries– I know, how outrageous of me– but I still snapped a photo because the sunlight streaming in from the window made the redness of the strawberries pop even more than usual. The following morning, I was carefully slicing my banana to lay it along the edge of the bowl, cautiously arranging blackberries along the other edge, and attentively placing each strawberry quarter in the center of the bowl.
Before I even knew it, I was racking my brain for new ways to arrange the toppings on my oatmeal and yoghurt. I started planning what I'd have for breakfast days in advanced. Before going to sleep, I'd find myself literally feeling excited for breakfast the next day– one might say my bowls motivated me to get my day started...or maybe it was my mandatory online Zoom classes.
My curiosity for other types of bowls grew, and thus I began messing around with smoothie bowls. However, smoothie bowls are rarities because they truly are a process to assemble, but with summer on the verge, a cold, refreshing smoothie bowl doesn't seem all too bad.
Although seemingly simple, these bowls really did ignite my newfound appreciation for food, specifically the importance of presentation. Thus, I started my "foodstagram" to share my creations and findings in efforts to spread the happiness these encounters bring me. With all this being said, bowls have taught me a wise lesson: to find appreciation for the simple things around you. I know it sounds cliche, as this is the sort of thing you'd find on quote from Pinterest, but after finally learning and experiencing this lesson myself, I can tell you that it does make everyday even more enjoyable.