Love made visible

how cooking can unite us...

 “Cooking is love made visible.” – Anonymous

Back in 2010, my mother and I put together a collection of favorite recipes that various family members had selected. My mother carefully hand-wrote the recipes, making sure that all of the steps were listed so that others would have the ability to also make these treasured foods.

My mother loved to cook and bake. Our parent’s home was filled with the wonderful smells of fresh baked bread, hearty meats and gravy, garden fresh vegetables and always, some kind of dessert.  Every supper had some form of potato, my father’s favorite vegetable. The exception to this unspoken rule was scalloped potatoes - my father said potatoes should never be in “any kind of sauce”.

Our farm had a beautiful, huge garden. My mother prepared and canned many vegetables. She made jellies and gorgeous, homemade pies and cakes. 

The kitchen was my mother’s domain and I remember helping her occasionally to prepare meals throughout the years. But later on in life, especially after my father’s passing, I became more active with her in the kitchen. 

On her visits to my own home and on many shared vacations, I have great memories of baking and cooking with her. She loved to demonstrate how to make something and “guide” you through the process. In her later years, she told me how she had wished she would have done that more with her children. In the busyness of motherhood, however, I can see how much easier it is to just do it yourself. 

My mother also would tell me stories of her early years of cooking as a newlywed and about their first apartment, where they shared a “party line” telephone. She spent many trips going up and down the stairwell, calling her mother-in-law and asking for cooking advice.

That sharing of knowledge and expertise is what makes cooking and baking such wonderful experiences. No one is born a cook - they are made - with love and patience.

Both of my grandmothers were great cooks and some of their recipes are also in the 2010 family cookbook. That is another beauty of cooking…recipes get passed down from one generation to the next. And if you are lucky, like my mother was, you get to watch your children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, eat and enjoy the foods that you love to prepare.

Perhaps the greatest gift of the recipe book are the personal stories that accompanied them. My mother was not aware that I had also asked people to share their individual memories that went along with their favorite recipes. Once I had the book ready to show her, I will never forget how touched she was to read each of those memories and realize what an impact she had on so many people.

It has been said that to cook is to nourish… It is to give pleasure and renewal...kind of like love… 

I would give anything to have my mother stand beside me one more time and bake cookies together. But as one of my dear friends pointed out to me, if I think about her every time I am in the kitchen, using her bowls, following her recipes…then that is its own gift.

The gift that keeps on giving…kind of like love…

What do you think?

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This week’s Smile Video

Steve Hartman profiles Bruno Serato, a restaurant owner in Anaheim, Calif., who has made exceptional sacrifices to feed his gourmet meals to poor children.

#believe #stevehartman #smilevideos

This week’s TED Talk - To be a cook is to be a storyteller…

I have watched TED Talks for many years now. I love the wide variety of experiences and opinions TED Talks offer. Here is one I would like to share for this week:

Like art, music, movies, and books, food tells stories that last generations. James Beard Award finalist, New Orleans-born chef/author, and TV personality, David Guas, explains why it is our duty to continue to tell stories through food so that family traditions and cultures can be shared with future generations.

What I am reading…

This past week my husband Jim and I started watching the PBS television series The Great American Recipe. If you haven’t watched it yet, I urge you to try it out. It does a great job of reminding us how much we have in common instead of how we differ from one another. 

I immediately checked our local library to see if they had a copy of the companion book and I checked it out right away.

The Amazon summary of the book from that series is as follows: “In the first season of The Great American Recipe, 10 home chefs representing distinct culinary backgrounds brought with them a rich collection of recipes. Some were secret family recipes passed down through the generations, some were new twists on regional classics, and others were their own deeply personal recipes crafted with love . . . and, together, they represent the dynamic story of America told through the diversity of its food. 

Now, you can bring all the fun of this series to your kitchen with more than 100 delicious, easy-to-follow recipes from the cast, host, and judges. The cookbook gives fans an in-depth look at their favorite contestants while also having the chance to cook their favorite recipes. These recipes are accessible and taste like home—evoking nostalgia while inspiring you to explore new flavors with your loved ones. 

Packed with amazing dishes and warm personal stories, and illustrated with gorgeous food photography and stills from the series, The Great American Recipe Cookbook is a must-have for fans of the show, food lovers, and every person who believes that food tells the story of who we are.”

Our country is made up of many different cultures and heritages and the GAR cookbook does a great job of showing us the richness each ethnic group brings to our “American” kitchen table.

Tranquil Moments…

I asked my niece, Jennifer Malphy, if she could share some of her nature photos with my newsletter audience. Each week I will feature a new photo. Here’s this week’s, taken at her parent’s home in northern Wisconsin:

Photo courtesy of Jennifer Malphy.

Children’s Corner 

Back in 1999, when I was an elementary school librarian, I started a project where I wrote letters (old fashioned, printed letters) to a variety of famous people. This was prior to the daily use of email and text messages. My questions were simple…

1) From your own life experiences, how has reading affected your life in a positive manner? 

2) Was there any particular person or experience in your life that made you aware of the value of literature and the importance of reading?

I am going to share these letters and let you experience the joy many of my students (and myself) have gotten from their touching words - Here is this week’s:

Spreading kindness one cookie at a time…

If you are on Facebook, you love to bake and you live in the Wausau, Wisconsin area, I urge you to check out a volunteer group I am a part of - It’s called Cookies for Caregivers and our goal is to recognize and thank our hometown heroes who make a difference every day. CFC does that through baking, packaging and delivering homemade treats.

Cookies for Caregivers was born as a reflection of the COVID 19 experience in 2020 and began in Huntingdon, PA.

CFC was created to show gratitude by serving freshly baked cookies as a modest sign of appreciation and respect for those working in the service fields. It is also a great way to spread kindness in our community! For more information go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/cookiesforcaregiverswausauwi 

Quote of the week

Until next week. Please remember…Begin and end each day with a grateful heart…and always, always be kind….