Food, Love, and General Rantings

First of all, this post is not a recipe. Sorry. I have a couple great summer posts coming your way (I promise!), but this is not one of them.

Secondly, the subject of this post is obvious. As you read it, you will probably think to yourself...duh Katie..everyone already knows this. But, I had a moment today, so I am going to write about it.

So, here it is. This blog is about love and food. Not mushy, romantic love (though that also applies)...just pure, true, common, day-to-day love. 

Maybe I should back it up. Here's what happened. Today, one of my cousins asked me for a recipe. He wanted something simple that he could cook for his family, so I began to search through the recipes that I have pictures of on my phone. (Pictures of recipes? Yes. I write my recipes on cards and then end up photographing them...yes, I know it's counterintuitive...yes, I know there are much more efficient ways of doing these sorts of things. This is just what I do.) Anyway, as I searched back through the years on my phone, a certain picture caught my eye. It's a picture of my aunt and cousin grating cheese. And out of nowhere, it just hit me in the gut (in a good way)...the laughter, the love, the craziness reflected on their faces. As I looked at it, I thought back to the day it was taken. My whole family was gathered because my grandfather had passed away; it was by no means an easy, carefree day, but there in the commune of family...there on their faces it was. Pure, true love and happiness. Even on such a hard day, among family and food, joy was still present.

I kept scrolling, and I found so many more pictures. So many pictures of people I love and (of course) food, and it made me think about how much of my cooking is driven purely by that love. There are logs in my head dedicated to the people I love. If someone close to me asks for dinner, I already know what I'm cooking because I already know what their favorite thing is and have bookmarked many recipes under their name. If someone I love needs a recipe, I will find it, or create it if I have to. My best recipes have been created because I was trying to make something using a loved ones favorite ingredients. 

Like I said, none of this is news. Obviously, we all know that there is a lot of sentiment and emotion tied to our food. Recipes are passed down through generations. Some of my earliest memories are cooking with my grandmother and my father, and I now do the same with the children in my life. When someone is sick or dies, or (on a lighter note) comes home with a new baby, food is the first thing we bring. But, today, as I happened across that photo, it just really struck me, and I think it's an important thing to reflect on every now and then. 

So often, we get caught in the day to day routine, and that love that drives our cooking gets pushed to the background and begins to feel like obligation. So, even though I'm telling you something you've heard a thousand times, it can't hurt to hear it again. When we get caught up in the necessity and the duty of cooking, sometimes we need to stop and reflect on the pure, true, common, day-to-day love that initially drove us to the stove. 

Oh, and of course, I didn't forget to share some of the pictures that inspired my moment.

Have a great weekend!