So, you'd have to be living under a rock to not know about the book / movie Eat, Pray, Love, right? I am a fan.
And today, I think I started my own Eat phase of my journey. All my life food has been something special. My grandfather and father owned and built their own wholesale foodservice company, and my father was in the wholesale foodservice industry pretty much his entire career. So needless to say, food was a huge part of our lives. I was taught to value quality and to savor the artist's soul behind the amazing flavors, textures, presentation in various dishes. I was encouraged to branch out beyond American food and try ethnic dishes I'd never heard of, much less imagined the taste of. Everywhere we travelled, new food experiences were always on the agenda.
While the rest of my family has kept their new food adventures rather mild, I've been known to do some seemingly crazy things with my own new experiences. Ever tried smoked squid? With the suction cups still fully intact? Could only get one of those down. And for those Harry Potter fans out there, remember Berti Bott's Every Flavor Jelly Beans? World Market actually made those for awhile, and I just had to try them. My daughter, Erin, sat there in the living room watching my face as I tried them all...vomit, earthworm, ear wax, booger, dirt, etc. Albeit, the earthworm and dirt flavors didn't taste all that different, but the one that did me in was the soap. Oh wow. I've never had my mouth washed out with soap, and after tasting that jelly bean, I am so grateful!
Obviously, family meals were really important in my growing up years. We succeeded at having sit down dinners together most nights, but I think my favorite meal of the week was Sunday lunch. My grandpa Poppy would take us all out to Luby's cafeteria in Harlingen, TX. It became a 10+ year tradition, and each of us got the same thing almost every time. The opposite of adventurous, we each had found the perfect combination of flavors and wanted that specific feast each week for our special lunch. And in the past 14 years since I lived in Texas, every time I went back to visit, guess where I ate...yep, Luby's. And I got the same exact thing I got as a kid. And when I moved back last year, I went to Luby's with Squish and introduced her to the family tradition. In fact, the last meal my Dad and I ate before leaving Texas this week was at Luby's. One last time.
So...food is important in my family. And when I married my ex-husband, I lost a lot of that. Tom was not an adventurous eater. Didn't like to cook and saw eating a meal as a chore, a task, something to just get done. I see food and the cooking/preparing of a meal as art, as personal expression, as truly an adventure and a fun, rewarding challenge to do it well. But Tom's demand for the same plain old food day after day won out, and I lost that creative part of myself that loved to cook and experience great new things in the kitchen. Through the last two years of trying to survive, that part of me never really came back. When I was hungry, nothing new or fun ever came to mind, cooking was a chore that I just didn't have the energy to do. Or maybe I just didn't have the inspiration or passion to do.
But yesterday, as I'm driving through New Mexico on my way to Denver with Squish, she's watching one of my favorite cartoon movies...Chicken Little. And he says with such determination, "Today is a new day." That has been kind of echoing in my head since then, and today Mom took us to Whole Foods to pick up a couple things, and my new day took on a whole new meaning! As I walked through the deli area, I was literally stopped dead in my tracks by the Indian Food Bar - the smells coming off of it, the rich textures, the naan - I couldn't have stopped myself if I tried. Into little containers went what used to be some of my favorite food on the planet! Then I found a fig/almond bread. Into the basket that went. And then strawberry rhubarb yogurt. And lobster bisque. And it just went on and on - $75 worth. I was horrified when I saw the total on the register. And then it hit me! This was the rebirth of that part of me that actually loves food, loves taste and texture, loves trying new things! I was coming back!!
So I gladly paid that $75 and sat down with Squish to an incredible meal of strangely mixed but oh so good things...I can't even describe how excited I was to care about food again! Squish devoured the naan, ate a half pint of strawberry rhubard yogurt but spit out all the Indian dishes. No worries. We'll get her there. This is a kid who loves guacamole, fried okra, steak and asparagus. She'll be a foody, no doubt. Especially now that her cooking Momma is back in the house!!! Woohoo!
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