My favorite boy toy and I recently celebrated our anniversary.  It’s hard to believe we’ve known each other for forty years, let alone been married as long as we have.

Our daughter surprised us with a set of new pots and pans.  For some people (my Mom will laugh when she sees this because she knows who it is), a gift of kitchen stuff would not be welcomed.  Not at all.

For me though and for my boy toy, it’s a wonderful gift!  I love proper cookware.  If I had more time to cook, I’d cook everything from scratch.  To me, cooking is a big ol’  message of ‘I LOVE YOU’.  It’s not just about nutrition, it’s about providing for your family, of taking time and effort, and of spending time together eating a meal.

Carol Flinders, in the popular vegetarian cookbook, Laurel’s Kitchen, wrote an introduction about how she gradually converted to a vegetarian lifestyle and began living green.  She reminded us of the importance of the kitchen, of homemaking, of relaxing into the task at hand as we provided for our families.  Her wisdom was shared in a cookbook written forty years ago, before any of this was popular.

These writings, in each cookbook that she co-authored, influenced me profoundly.  My daughter and I brown bagged lunches each day with homemade soups and breads, leftover casseroles made with legumes, grains, and vegetables, custards, and other goodies.  My daughter eventually got tired of being different than everyone else, preferring PBJ or tuna salad.  But even today, I take leftovers for lunch on most days (unless I’m trying out the food trucks during my lunch walk!).  And all these years later, my daughter takes her lunch to work most days as well.

Fixing and eating food is more than satisfying hunger.  It is time together, an appreciation for the sharing of nourishment, and an opportunity to love each other several times a day.  For me, having new cookware is a wonderful gift from a wonderful child.  Thanks honey!

Word for tomorrow – COMPANIONSHIP.  If you prefer to work ahead, see the list for the week under “A Word A Day”.

Cooking Carol Flinders cooking cookware Laurel's Kitchen nourishment postaday2011