Cooking up a Family

Have I ever wrote about how much I love cooking? I love it. I love everything about it. I love preparing the ingredients. I love chopping. I love sweating over the stove. I love choosing between following precisely a proven recipe or creating my own masterpiece. I love how science and artistry work together in the kitchen. You have to use both. One without the other...or at least in my experience ends up being a disaster. I love the smells. I love the expectation you get...wondering if your hard work, dedication and plan will pan out. I love tasting everything as it cooks. What's it missing? What does it have too much of? How can I fix it? Can I make it better? I taste. I analyze. I adjust. It's like the one thing throughout my day I can actually control the outcome of (too the extent of my knowledge and/or creativity). I even love seeing the mess that is left behind! It's a reminder of the process. The bigger the mess, the more I pour into it. In my home of feeding 9 or more every night...the mess is HUGE! The clinging of plates, utensils, dishes and my screaming orders at everyone drowns out everything. It's like the world stops. Nothing else matters. The kids aren't getting bigger. Life isn't moving fast. Bills are waiting. School is on hold. All that matters is THIS moment. Then we sit and no matter what is happening...we pray. We give thanks. Yeah...some nights we are heavy with thought when we eat. We are frustrated with each other. Someone may get sent to their room. It can get loud with chatter. Everyone asking for more before I even take my first bite. Complaints that they want Kraft. Yeah....and some nights we are smiling as a family. Everyone is engaged and happy. We are enthralled with stories from each others day. The air is filled with "This is the BEST dinner ever mommy"! The thing is...no matter what I cook, the way it tastes, the mood my family is in, the mess it creates...time stops...the world comes to a halt. It is about this moment...where science meets artistry. You are sweaty, messy, creative, following recipes, serving, praying it comes together...This is family.



To show how much I love cooking and the process...I share with you my "attempt" at preparing chicken in Ethiopia. *not for the weak stomach or anyone that thinks buying McNuggets from McDonalds is cruelty free...This my friends is Africa!