Aphasia and Cooking: Brain Food, AI and a Busy May

Preparing for Aphasia and Cooking

May has been busy.

I am working on two projects at the same time:

Preparing for Aphasia Awareness Month in June
and developing new cooking blogs.

I love both of them.

But honestly?
It is a lot of work.

Especially with aphasia.

I need to relax a little.
Still work.
But not quite this much.

Here is what has been happening.

Preparing for Aphasia Awareness

Right now we are preparing for an Aphasia Awareness program on June 16 on the Connecticut shoreline.

National Aphasia Association awareness month is in June, and we hope this program helps people learn more about aphasia and connect with others.

Shari Mayerson, Paula Gallagher, and I will be speaking about aphasia:
what it is,
what life with aphasia can be like,
and what Paula and I have experienced personally.

We are hoping to reach:
people with aphasia,
caregivers,
healthcare professionals,
and anyone interested in learning more.

We have been communicating with organizations and communities in Branford, Madison, Guilford, and Clinton Connecticut.

Anyone is welcome.

But quietly, in the back of our minds, we are especially hoping to meet more people with aphasia living along the shoreline.

Right now, other than Paula, I really have not met other people with aphasia on the shoreline.

And yet we know they are there.

About 2 million people in the United States live with aphasia.

There are definitely people with aphasia in shoreline communities.

But many people remain isolated after stroke.

Maybe they do not know about resources.
Maybe they are exhausted.
Maybe communication is simply too hard.

We do not know what will happen.

But we are hoping this program may help people begin connecting:
in person,
through Zoom,
or simply by knowing they are not alone.

Preparing for the program has taken a lot of work.

Flyers.
Emails.
Writing text.
Communication.
Planning.

Without all of that work, nothing happens.

So What Does This Have To Do With Cooking?

At the exact same time we were preparing for Aphasia Awareness Month, I was also cooking.

That had to happen too.

And somehow, something unexpected happened.

For the last five years, I have been cooking mostly from The New York Times cookbook.

The food was delicious.
Interesting.
Creative.

But also:
complicated,
expensive,
and time consuming.

Many meals took over an hour.

And although I can often read ingredients,
reading directions after stroke is much harder for me.

Too many steps.
Too much information.
Too much language at one time.

Somehow I came up with something surprisingly clever.

Now I look at what is in the refrigerator.

Then I ask “AI Teacher” — the AI I use through ChatGPT — for simple cooking ideas based on what I already have.

Then I cook mostly on my own.

No long complicated recipe.

No trying to follow endless directions.

And something else happened too.

Without really planning it,
I started moving away from ultra-processed food.

More simple food.
More real food.
More experiments.

And honestly?

I am having a lot of fun.

In just two weeks, my cooking has changed completely.

Some of the Things I Have Been Making

• Homemade “Non BBQ Sauce” instead of ultra-processed BBQ sauce
• Polenta with vodka sauce and zucchini
• Tofu, rice, broccoli and white beans
• Fruit and Greek yogurt “ice cream”
• Simple skillet dinners using whatever is already in the kitchen
• Homemade salad dressing
• Applesauce without added sugar

Not everything works perfectly.

Sometimes things burn.

Sometimes Keith likes dinner more than I do.

But somehow that has become part of the fun too.

Looking ahead to…

It has been unusual.
Interesting.
Creative.
And honestly, wonderful.

I have been sharing many of these ideas through Facebook and Instagram while everything is happening in real time.

Now I am starting to think about summer.

I want to keep talking about aphasia.

I also want to keep exploring Brain Food and cooking.

But after Aphasia Awareness Month is over, I also need to figure out how to slow down a little and create a more reasonable balance moving forward.

I feel lucky.

Very lucky.

But also very busy and tired.

So this blog has no big conclusion.

No perfect solution.

Just an honest update about what has been happening lately in my life.