Cooking Basics for People Who Would Rather Be Doing Literally Anything Else
By Sienna — Spontaneous, playful, a little chaotic. Life's an adventure and I'm dragging you along. ·
If You Can Boil Water, You Can Survive
Listen, I know what you’re thinking. Sienna, you’re a PA, you live on craft services bagels and whatever leftover catering wraps you can shove into your bag before the lead producer notices. Why are you talking to me about cooking basics?
Here’s the thing: Gerald, my beat-up Civic, has broken down more times than I care to count, and sometimes you just need to feed yourself something that wasn't prepared by a catering company at 3:00 AM. I moved to LA at nineteen with eight hundred bucks and a dream that was mostly just caffeine and grit. I learned the hard way that if you don’t know how to feed yourself, you’re at the mercy of Postmates fees, and honey, those fees are the enemy of a fun life.
Cooking isn't about being a Michelin-star chef. It’s about not burning your apartment down and making sure you don't pass out on set because you only ate a handful of almonds. Let’s demystify the kitchen. It’s not an adventure in stress; it’s an adventure in fueling the chaos.
The “I Don’t Have Time” Kitchen Setup
You don’t need a thousand-dollar knife set. Please, do not go to Williams-Sonoma and drop your rent money on copper pots. You need three things to survive: one really sharp chef’s knife, one non-stick pan that doesn’t hate you, and a wooden spoon that has seen some things.
If you have a cutting board—and for the love of everything holy, make sure it’s stable—you are ready to go. The secret to actual cooking is prep. In the production world, we call it 'blocking.' You gotta know where your actors are standing before you call action. In the kitchen, you gotta have your ingredients chopped before you turn on the burner. If you’re trying to chop an onion while your oil is smoking, that’s not cooking, that’s a cry for help.
Stop Over-Complicating Your Seasoning
I see so many of you buying weird spices that you use once and then leave in the back of the cupboard until 2028. Throw them away. You need salt, pepper, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes. That’s it.
Salt is the absolute king. If your food tastes like wet cardboard, it’s not missing a complex blend of herbs from the Himalayas; it’s missing salt. Use kosher salt. It’s easier to grab with your fingers, and you feel like a pro when you pinch it and sprinkle it over your pan like you’re starring in your own Food Network special. Also, don’t be scared of fat. Butter is your friend. Olive oil is your best friend. They prevent the bottom of your pan from becoming a crime scene.
The “Sienna’s Survival” Method of Sautéing
Sautéing sounds fancy. It’s not. It’s just moving stuff around in a hot pan so it doesn’t die. Here’s the golden rule for vegetables: they take different amounts of time. Don't throw a delicate handful of spinach in at the same time as a hard-as-rock carrot.
Start with the hard stuff. Put a little oil in the pan, get it shimmering, and toss in your onions or carrots. Let them hang out. Don't touch them for a minute. Seriously, leave them alone. People love to poke at their food like they’re trying to wake it up. Let it get brown—that brown stuff on the bottom of the pan? That’s flavor. That’s the good stuff. Add your garlic at the very end so it doesn't burn, because burnt garlic is a tragedy I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.
When Life Gets Chaotic, Just Roast It
If you’re having one of those days where the set schedule is totally blown and you just want to collapse, roasting is your savior. You literally just cut up whatever random veggies are in your fridge, throw them on a sheet pan with oil, salt, and pepper, and shove them in the oven at 400 degrees.
Set a timer, go change out of your work clothes, scroll through TikTok for twenty minutes, and come back to perfectly cooked food. It’s the ultimate lazy-but-impressive trick. You can roast literally anything. Broccoli? Yes. Potatoes? Obviously. Chickpeas? They get crunchy and taste like snacks.
You Are the Main Character
The most important ingredient in your kitchen is your own intuition. If you think it needs more lemon, add more lemon. If you think it needs heat, dump in the red pepper flakes until your tongue tingles. Cooking is the one part of my day where I don't have a schedule to follow or a director yelling about a light setup. It’s just me, my music, and the freedom to screw up and try again.
Stop treating the stove like a bomb you’re trying to defuse. It’s just food. If you burn it, order a pizza, laugh about it, and try again tomorrow. That’s the adventure, right?
So, what’s the first thing you’re going to experiment with this week? Are you a roast-everything kind of person, or are you going to try the holy grail of salt and pepper? Hit me up in the comments or shoot me a DM—I want to hear about your kitchen wins (and the spectacular, hilarious fails, too). Let’s chat!