As I moved into my teenage years, I still wasn't very interested in food. Because my mother was a farmer's wife, she was very busy with my dad in the barn or out in the fields. Consequently, it was up to my sister and me to keep the house clean and get the evening meal ready for the family. We quickly discovered that she liked to cook and work with food, while I liked cleaning up and organizing. So we stuck to what we liked and were good at - which meant Judy's room was always a mess and I never learned to cook/bake. (She is now a neat-nik like me and I have moved closer to her expertise with food.)
This was a good arrangement and worked well until I got engaged and started thinking about getting married and keeping house. I was intelligent enough to know that men like to eat and feeding a husband is important. But I was at a loss to know where to begin. I really was clueless.
Fortunately, the first 8 months of married life were spent living with Andy's family. We had an "apartment" on the third floor of their house with 2 rooms and a bathroom. The only thing lacking in that apartment was a kitchen, so we ate dinners with the family. I learned a lot by observing Andy's mom in the kitchen. Suddenly, I was interested in food and learning all I could about how to prepare tasty meals for the one I loved.
After we moved to Portland, Oregon where Andy attended seminary, God provided some good friends who were mentors and examples for me in food preparation. One of those friends already had 2 children and had been married several years longer than us. She also was gifted in hospitality and did a lot of entertaining. Another couple who became very good friends with Andy and me were an older couple who were more like our grandparents' age, Jake & Nadine. Jake had been a baker all his life so I learned a lot from him, too.
Little by little, I was taking some baby steps and gaining experience. I learned to make a good pie. Home made pie crusts can be intimating, but I tackled that and the more I practiced, the better those pies became. Over the next number of years, I picked up tips and practical advice from friends who were gifted in the kitchen.
About 15 years ago, I was feeling pretty good about my cooking skills and the way I took care of my family. But one day Andy told me he thought we needed to change the way we ate. At first I was upset and took it personally that I wasn't doing a good job of making nutritious meals. But as I took some time to think it through, I realized making some changes might be what we needed to do. Andy and I both had some health issues at that point in our lives, so we decided to go vegetarian for a while. We cut out all meat (except occasional fish), dairy and sugar. Whew! That really challenged me to try to find new recipes that were tasty. It took some time and lots of research, but I managed to come up with food that we liked. The up side of this change of diet was that we started feeling better. We gradually added meat back into our diet, mostly fish, chicken and turkey. We also eat dairy again, although I buy lactose free milk. And when I use sugar, I use organic. I try to include more greens in our diet and be more intentional at a balanced diet.
Currently, I spend most of my time in my kitchen and I'm enjoying it. I love to love people by feeding them. I wouldn't say I'm big on artistic flair or presentation, but I do work hard at TASTE. I am a good imitator and learn by observation, so most of the food I make comes from ideas I've seen at a restaurant or someone else's house. I like to look through magazines or on the internet for ideas.
I'll never be as good as my sister or some of my friends, but last night I had the ultimate compliment. Dawn and Tommy came over to have dinner with us. When Dawn was dishing out the baked ziti for Kira, she told her: "Kira, you'll like this. Grammy makes delicious food!" I got all choked up and teary eyed. Sniff, sniff! Who would have ever thought that the little girl from long ago back on the farm would one day be a good cook!
Here are some pictures I took of food from my kitchen:
Taco Pie
with Caesar salad and taco chips
chicken on the grill with potato casserole and broccoli (so colorful)
One of our favorites: sweet potatoes, rice pilaf & zucchini souffle
Broccoli cheddar soup and grilled cheese sandwich (my homemade bread)the soup recipe is a Panera Bread copy cat recipe - yummy!
pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. My attempt at presentation: orange icing and sprinkles on top.
I know, pretty pathetic, but they were very tasty!
Hmmm...I'm getting hungry. I think I'll go make something!
