This will probably be the only article that I write for this Thrive series in the first-person, partly because I like my recipe articles to remain less like directives and more like teachings or guidelines.
However, for this Valentine’s Day I feel moved to share my recipe experiences with you in the first person to illustrate how strongly I feel about the power of food to bring people together and how meaningful it is to share recipes and meals with friends and family, and perhaps, most poignantly, with those outside our inner circle.
We all have our memories of family meals. The daily meals, the Sunday meals and the holiday meals all served to formulate how we relate to food and family time around the table.
My Italian Grandma loved to cook for our family and others. She had two kitchens in her home, one for daily meals and one in her finished basement where we would set up one long dinner table for all the guests.
Every holiday Grandma would invite the Priest and Nuns from our church and anyone else who didn’t have somewhere to go into her home to share our holiday meal. The typical menu was turkey with stuffing, ham, homemade pasta and sauce, mashed potatoes, corn, holiday treats and lots of laughter.
The spirit of sharing a meal made a simple menu magical.
Although Grandma wasn’t perhaps the most patient instructor when it came to teaching us how to cook, she always (well, most always) let us be in the kitchen with her while she prepared meals. Sometimes she would let us help her prep some of the menu items or crank the handle on the pasta machine. Most importantly, she demonstrated that cooking homemade meals was an act of love.
I treasure the handwritten recipes that I’ve inherited from my Grandma. They always bring to mind my memories of “helping” prepare the menu items, setting up the long dinner table for guests and being immersed in the magic when we all came together. And experiencing the joy of eating all that yummy food!
One year before Christmas I gave my Mom and each of my four sisters index cards on which to handwrite a few of the recipes that they typically bring to our family meals. I also prepared some index cards with recipes that were favorites of my daughters when they were growing up.
I found nice recipe boxes to put the recipe cards in and gave them to my daughters for Christmas. It was probably one of the most memorable Christmas moments ever. I believe they will also treasure the handwritten recipes and the memories that come flooding to mind when they open those boxes.
Simple acts of love: showing your child how to prepare a dish, sharing a homemade meal with family, friends and guests and preserving family recipes. These are all examples of the power of food to bring people together. My wish is that you also experience the powerful magic of shared meals and recipes and find your own way to share that magic with others.
Have fun in the kitchen!
