The Joys of Cooking
Thanksgiving has now past and we are moving ahead to the next holiday to share in and savor. This year, the memory of Thanksgiving will stay with me all year through and more. I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday with families and friends.
From the time we landed in Florida last Wednesday and returned last night late, our hours were filled with the enjoyment of sharing meals and preparation together. I just spent the holiday with my three children, my siblings, their children and my parents and a very special person who endured the initiation into our family life. Together, for five days, we cooked, ate, cooked, ate and laughed until our stomachs were either too full or too tired from the laughing.
Wednesday we shared a dinner and cooked pies,potatoes, appetizers until the wee hours of the night. Thanksgiving was of course filled with more early morning cooking and baking and then the sharing of one enormous dinner a movie and lots of stories. Friday was a very special celebration and dinner out for my parents 60th anniversary followed by more desserts and home movies dating back to 1923. (I was only in the ones from 1960 on thank you very!) Saturday was filled with decorating my Mom and Dad’s home for Christmas and of course, more food and yesterday we dragged ourselves to the airport very thankful they were only weighing our suitcases and not us!
Throughout the entire weekend I could not help but notice how the creating and sharing of food was a bond and a place of meeting for us to engage with one another, share and work together and relax and laugh. One brother was terribly missed at the table but not in spirit and the stories, food and drink flowed freely.
Gatherings do not have to be formal, do not have to be planned with perfection and do not have to be “gourmet” whatever that word has come to mean in this culture. They need to be planned and shared with joy, meaningful emotion and a desier to share much more than what is on the plate. The nourishment that I gained over the past five days was far more in my heart than in my stomach. I am filled up in more ways than one.
So, plan a gathering with some friends, neighbors, co-workers. Skip the crowded restaurants and choose a small and intimate place or home. Create together, share more than the meal, and start a new movement of bringing people back to the table. You will be happy you did and your heart will be full….as well as your stomach!
Happy Holidays!
