Well, I thought a lot before I started this undertaking and I realized MAYBE people would want to know what I know, hear what I have to say and perhaps be marginally entertained by my words. Actually, I kinda agonized over it.
Friday night, I went to a “book club” event with a fave author whom I know*, and shared with her that I was thinking of starting this blog. Her normally animated face became still, she looked me square in the face and said. “You should do it.” Thanks Vicki for the vote of confidence.
My concerns with this blog are many and varied. For starters:
• Do I have enough to say?
• I have never had an original thought in my head. What do I have to say that someone else hasn’t already said, and said it better?
• What makes me so special?
I asked these few questions to the assembled group and I was assured that my food is good, my teaching abilities and desire to share are top notch, and most importantly, that none of the other Food Bloggers seem to worry about being original or even good sometimes.
So it is with great trepidation that I start here, on a Saturday morning, amid a home improvement project, to share my thoughts on Food with you, and in time, some recipes. If I am feeling particularly generous I will share my Secret Lemon Bar Recipe with you one day.
My friend Jim says, only half jokingly, that if I have a memorable meal (good or bad), I can remember who was sitting where at the table and everything I ate. As I look back on my life that is too true. I revisit all the sorrows and celebrations and realize everything revolved around the food. When I chat on the phone with Mom and she says she went to a wedding /baby shower/ funeral etc. the first question I always ask is, “How was the food?” in a particularly sing song way that New Yorkers do.
Why is that? I have a feeling that it has to do with nourishing ourselves, both physically and emotionally. Think about it for a minute. When you are alone, you are happy eating a bowl of cereal or something simple for dinner, but you will go to great lengths to make sure everything is just right when cooking for friends or family. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes the luxury of a meal in solitude and going the extra mile for yourself is needed, expected and a joy, but generally, the average person eats the cereal.
Let’s call this ability to recall meals and the diners therin “Food Memories” (and someday I hope to publish a cookbook with the same title). Of course, not every meal you make or eat is going to be the stuff of legends. Hello? PB & J sandwiches? Eggs over easy with bacon…really? But when you sit down to eat with friends and/or family, it should be fun, interactive and somewhat memorable regardless of whether it is a special event or not.
This week’s Food Memories included a perfect lamb chop at Milos in the Cosmopolitan to celebrate a friend’s birthday, cooking a pasta dish as a demonstration for old friends and new acquaintances, great conversation, if not great service, after a book signing with friend and author, Vicki Pettersson and a lovely antipasto I created for a Posse Member’s BBQ.
I hope you decide to stick with me through this Journey of Food. Until next time, go out and create your OWN Food Memories this week.
*To learn more about friend Vicki Pettersson’s urban fantasy series go to http://www.vickipettersson.com/
