November 17, 2016
Home cooking
I’ve always been a ‘cooker’. So when my daughter was young it was an instinctive process and natural event to cook with her. From a very early age she would dump ingredients into a bowl, stir the contents and shape, press or arrange the result.
As time passed the recipes and ingredients would get more complicated and involved and the conversation would follow suit. The ingredients were discussed, how it was being prepared and what the benefits to our bodies and soul would be. After all, food and the making of it is a soul satisfying process better shared and enjoyed with loved ones.
Looking back, the product of these times are tremendously good memories and some wonderful traditions. We still talk about making cookies on Halloween as the kids sang out ‘Trick-or-Treat’. Or stuffing a spaghetti squash the first year we became vegetarians. Or the multitude of ingredient combinations for quesadillas when a quick meal was necessary. No McDonald’s in this house!
The Washington Post reported on the state of home-cooking in America in 2015 titled ‘The slow death of the home-cooked meal’. It sadly shows a steady downward decline in the amount of meals being prepared at home from only 60 percent in 2014 compared with over 75 percent 30 years ago. The reasons given range from women working more to a lack of time to the convenient availability of prepared meals.
It is with humbling pride that I watch her now as a young mother cooking for her family. I am grateful that this important life skill has been carried on despite all the distractions and easy fixes available today. What a wonderful gift the art of cooking is and the value of a home cooked meal shared with family.
Cooking at home with and for family is time well invested!!
Marni
