I could wait until the perfect time to write a post in our first-ever, three-sisters, blog, but there is no such thing as perfect time, and so I won't wait any longer. Almost every meal I make, I think of how it intertwines with faith, family, and obviously (food) recipes. So, I snap away the pictures and put them in my food journal folder. I make a little memory, and think, "Yes, I will post this!" Here, I am, posting, not necessarily each of those snap shots of multiple meals made since landing down here in South America. But, I am making a post on memories, and how my cooking has been impacted by faith and family. About 6 months ago, I finished a book, some parts good and worthwhile, others I could have passed on, but one line among several that stuck out to me and touched me, particulary in relation to the reason why I love to cook was this:
For many of us mothers, feeding people is our love language. When we are too intimidated to express our feelings, particularly when sadness is involved, we resort to casseroles. Bake chicken, cut up carrots, and roll out pie dough. They are the hand motions of a friend who longs to soothe a mother's broken heart. And somehow, miraculously, they do...
Food doesn't soothe, but the intention does. When love stops, chicken pies can take over. There is an understanding that while the blender whirls and the oven preheats, the friend in pain is being remembered in her hurt. The cook is thinking of her, wondering how she is faring, what she is experiencing. While friends cook, they slide their feet into the shoes of the hurting mom in order to participate a bit in the pain she feels. One mother to another. While I bake, give me some of your troubles and I will carry them as best I can is what the activity sends as intention. I can't be you. but I can be like you in some way. Our common bond as mothers is that we must cook for loved ones. So I will cook for you now, says that friend. I can pretend that you are with me and that I can make life better for you. So let me in, says the food. (The 10 Habits of Happy Mothers, p. 28, p.30).
Each time we have a feast day celebration, a birthday, guests to our home, an anniversary to celebrate (be it our wedding anniversary, a Baptismal birthday, or the marking of a milestone), a meal is central. I realize and am grateful for this because while eating, we all gather together, around the table, sharing stories, laughing, praying, and giving God thanks for each and everything we have. And so, I love to cook. Cooking fills the house with good smells, it reminds our family and whoever else enters our home that there is a plan, there is stability, there is love for another. Cooking is so much more than a job to be done, but it is an act of love that unites us all while feeding our bodies with good food and our souls with wholesome conversation over a meal.
Now I am grateful to have two little cooks-in-the-making. Our girls love to help cook, bake, set the table, and share love notes on our plates as part of the table-setting. This makes me so happy, because they now see that the table is where we gather together to love one another, while nourishing ourselves. And, how beautiful this daily and necessary gathering can be when beauty and delicious food is included.
And so, here is to a beautiful meeting with my sisters at our virtual cafe (we always wanted to share a coffee shop but that dream sort of became a far-off dream now that we are all miles and miles away, on three different continents tending to our own "cafes" and feeding our own families.) But, for this meeting spot I am grateful, for it is here where we can continue to share what we grew up on: laughing over memorable and sometimes interesting foods, learning the art of setting a table, sharing our space for new ideas and creations, and expanding our hearts and kitchen tables for delicacies that delight our taste buds and make us want to cook and love all the more by sharing feasts with others.
Here is to my sisters, whom I love, whether near or far, and to whom I am grateful for taking this ride with me on a wonderful journey of faith, family, and food through a passion we all share: our love of cooking.
(Go clink a glass of wine with another and give a big cheer for 3 Sisters, 3 Continents, 1 Cafe!)
