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Posted by Ash on April 5th, 2008 in Favorite Things

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I love food. To me, food is one of those necessities in life that is also pure pleasure. I took a walk down memory lane this week as I was thinking about my relationship with food.
My mom wasn’t a great cook. Her food was pretty bland, except when our Spanish neighbor taught her how to make tamales. Those tamales were amazing! But, my mom was not a domestic goddess. Her love was animals and the outdoors, so cooking and good food was not something mom introduced to me.
I don’t recall really loving food as a child. I remember feeding my oatmeal to the dogs when mom wasn’t looking in the mornings.
At around 7, I started experimenting with cooking, concocting my own crazy recipes.
As a child, we lived in the middle of no where, so eating out was a rare and very special treat. I guess I still feel that way. I love eating out and trying a variety of foods. Whenever my family vacationed, I couldn’t wait to see if the restaurant we would be eating at had fried shrimp. That was always my favorite.
I come from tall skinny genes and was a beanpole myself throughout childhood. But, I don’t have a petite frame and even at my fit, lean times, I was around 140 pounds. I remember my mom saying to me one time that if I wasn’t careful, I’d look like my grandfather’s sisters…they were the ones in the family who weren’t tall and skinny. But that was about the only time anything negative was voiced to me concerning food.
I was very active in high school with track, weight-lifting and the Pom line. My appetite became voracious. As well, I had to take over all of the family grocery shopping and cooking, as my mom had MS. I really got into cooking at that time and learned some great recipes. I got into making pies and spent a summer working at a small motel/cafe and worked in their kitchen and made pies.
The first date with my first hubby was at a Mexican restaurant and I out ate him, to his surprise. Nope, I was never one of those girls that ‘ate like a bird’..my days of finding somewhere to hide my food was over!

Yes, I love food and really, a big part of my life is based on food.

But the weird thing is, I no longer like to cook. I don’t know what happened, maybe it was cooking so early and then getting married and cooking for a family…though thats not really a good excuse. I’m just not into CREATING the food, just EATING the food.
Luckily, my second hubby is a great cook and loves to cook. But, I’m still responsible for the meals Monday through Thursday. (although I am really good at coming up with ways to get out of cooking those nights!)
Whenever we travel, it’s all about the food of the area or the restaurants recommended.
Hubby and I have lunch out every Friday. We love finding new restaurants to try out and we have our favs that we rotate through.
If there is a family gathering, the first topic of conversation is: What will we be eating/cooking or where will we go eat out at?

Pretty much each and every time I get together with my girlfriends…it’s over food.
In a conversation with my sister last night, she was telling me that on her visit to see our Aunt, she put in her menu request for what she wanted my Aunt to cook for her. That led to a long conversation about the dishes our grandmother made that we loved and miss having. Grandma was a ranchers wife. She would whip out a meal that fed 20 people without batting an eyelash. Folks were always gathering at her house for that huge midday meal.
My Mother-in-law is an amazing cook and visiting her is also always about what we will be eating.
My girls have became really great cooks. I tell you, there is nothing cooler, as a mom, than to suddenly have your kids come visit and say…“Hey mom, we are going to make the dinner tonight!”

Food is such a funny thing. We have such a love/hate relationship with it here in America. We consume way more than our bodies really need to function, yet, it is also that great common denominator that brings people together for sharing and laughter. We soothe with it, we socialize with it and we kill ourselves with it.

I am very grateful for food and grateful that because, in large, due to my mom’s MS, I learned about nutrition and the benefits of healthy food at an early age. I can get heavy fast if I’m not careful, but I can also get back to healthy without the dread and ordeal of crazy dieting.

This kitchen towel/apron set about sums up kitchen duties for me. I love a cute kitchen, good food and someone else to do the cooking!

Turn tedious chores into tons of laughs with the thoughts of your inner diva printed on your kitchen linens! “I understand the concept of cooking and cleaning, just not as it applies to me.” Design is silkscreened onto washable 100% cotton kitchen helpers. Set includes an apron, a potholder and a towel.

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