here is my adulting advice: find a recipe that includes a small amount of wine (French and Italian recipes are especially good for this ime but there are plenty of options). DO NOT buy “cooking wine.” buy a good wine, by which I mean a wine in your price range that is appropriate to the recipe–sweet red, dry white, w/e–and sounds good to you. if it’s $8 and you like it, that counts. measure out however much you will need for your recipe at the start. then pour yourself a glass of the wine. drink it as you cook. play some music–NOT through your headphones. let your music mix with the ambient noise of the place where you live. dance a little while you move through your kitchen–flick your wrist with dramatic flair as you add your ingredients. make sure you preserve at least one full glass of your wine to enjoy with your dinner when it’s done.
seriously, my friends, the amount of joy this adds to the cooking process cannot be overstated.