Archive for the ‘having fun over the holidays’ tag

Cooking, Connections and Blessings

I happen to be lucky when it comes to cooking. I come from a solid line of talented Pennsylvania Dutch cooks who welcomed me into their kitchens from an early age. It was often a messy experience for both of us, but they kept inviting me in and I kept coming. They enjoyed cooking and I enjoyed being with them while they cooked. I still enjoy hanging out in the kitchen with my mom and am double blessed to have a mother-in-law who loves to let me help out, too.

I intuitively felt the person-to-person connection that happens when you cook together early on and even tried to capture it on a cassette recording many years ago. On a whim, I taped my grandmother’s and my conversation while we worked together to create her oh-so-fine, oh-so-amazingly tantalizing saffron chicken. What a treasure that recording is to me. As we tinkered around in the kitchen, you can hear the happiness in her voice; she is busy and if you listen closely enough, you can hear the sounds of some of her favorite pots and pans – some of which I now own – clinking and clanking in the background.

I grew up with great memories that combined food, connection and love. So it didn’t come as a surprise when I read Bill Penzey’s recent editorial in his spice catalog of the same name. In the December (2009) issue, he passionately encourages readers:

You have the power to spread the joy that is cooking; the holidays are the perfect time to make it happen…Maybe it is…pulling that novice into the kitchen and sharing a bit of what you know with them…Give them that feeling of knowing that part of the smiles around the table were their doing and you will have gone a long way in sharing what cooking is all about.

Well said, Bill.

Thanks to women like my grandmother, mother and my mother-in-law, I do love to cook. Penzey notes that those who love to cook had at least one person in their life who showed them “the value that comes to life through cooking.” As a result of the connection that I felt to adults who loved me and showed it – as well as how good the end result tasted – I do love to let others know how much I care about them through my cooking. When I was invited into their kitchens, they were showing me love. I could feel it. When they cooked for me, they showed me love. And now I’m doing the same for my own family.

As the holidays approach, I encourage you to be brave. Go ahead, open up that kitchen, hand out aprons and invite your loved ones around to help. Let them get messy, let them giggle and for goodness sake, let them lick the spoon every once in a while.

Happy holidays from our house to yours,

Chris

Photo source: http://www.amazingmoms.com/htm/kidscooking.htm