When life hands you gargoyles, make snickerdoodles. Okay, so that’s not really how that saying goes, but sometimes it feels just that way. I will admit, much to my own dismay, that on occasion I spiral down. And I admit that asking for help, or rather support, has always been difficult for me, so I don’t usually. What works best is taking the focus off of myself and finding a way to meditate by participating in and focusing on a process of some sort.
Luckily, I enjoy cooking. When in the kitchen with a glass of wine (my glass is half full if it’s white and half empty if it’s red), scratch ingredients, and music playing, I find my voice both literally while singing along and metaphorically through the scientific process of creating food.
The problem is I cook more than I can chew. I’m not a big eater and I never have been, except when it comes to the guilty pleasure that is ice cream of course. Usually, my eyes are MUCH bigger than my stomach.
So why do I like cooking so much if I don’t always eat the food? I love giving food away to people who enjoy eating. Feeding people makes me feel good about the world, especially when I’m giving them food that starts from the basics. I recognize the energy and love I put into the process, no matter how bad the final dish turns out, and I know the ingredients are real. There’s no list of 20 unpronounceable mystery ingredients stickered to the package. If people eat the food and smile, even better if they ask for the recipe, then it’s a good day.
Birds of a feather…. My friend Jen is a master of food as gifts. She made brilliant marshmallows, a jar of make-it-yourself soup, and caramels as holiday gifts three years in a row.
Some tips when gifting food:
1. Mix it up. People can get tired of baked goods every Monday. (Hard to believe, but there is too much of a good thing.) Try muffins, cookies, berries (sometimes less is more as I learned when I brought in freshly picked blackberries to the office), stuffed pears, etc. Be creative.
2. Careful with the allergies. Make sure you know if anyone is allergic to anything and always label foods. My inclination is to not give away food if I’m not sure. I don’t want to put someone’s life in danger.
3. Feed people with food you make and gather. The goal is not to unload that extra box of Girl Scout cookies you didn’t really want, two-month old Halloween candy, or a relative’s holiday cookies on the resident office goat (you know who you are).
4. Cook for soup kitchens, for busy friends and family (a death in the family or a new baby are appropriate occasions to help out), for gifts, celebrations, game nights, etc.
5. Have fun! Occasionally the grass IS greener on the other side, so get to that greener side with a spatula in hand and a sense of adventure. After all, you can’t make an omelette without breaking the eggs.
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