A Beginning...

Food.  We're obsessed with it.  We love it, hate it, are confused by it, need it, crave it, waste it, refuse it, sneak it, share it, prepare it, use it, buy it, and learn from it. Each of us has our own personal relationship with food; our own culinary courtship, if you will.  Mine started in elementary school during a field trip.  It was lunchtime. Some teacher blew a whistle and throngs of smiling, sweaty third-graders each grabbed their brown paper lunch sack from the class cooler and sat down in automatic little circles of friends; some unspoken seating arrangement that everyone just knew about you don't know how or why... it just is.
     And that's when it happened.  When Amanda Steiner pulled a cold, shiny Capri Sun out of her bag along with not one, but two nutty-buddy's I realized right then and there that food was valuable.  It meant something to me and to others and having it, or at least the "right" kind of it, was important to me.  I had a relationship with it and it affected how I felt about things.  Well, ok, maybe I didn't think all of that right away.  Maybe it was more like Hey, that looks waaaaaaay better than my tuna salad sandwich and Big K cola.  I want that instead.  Dang it. But you get the idea. 
     Over the years the food has changed, and so have the feelings.  From pizza roll snacks in high school, ramen noodle college-days, those first months of marriage dinners (sorry baby), being introduced to the art (and joy) of cooking from scratch from a friend, and then being forced into seasonal cooking by our move to a small Eastern European town, my culinary courtship has taken on a life of its own.  Now, the relationship is much more stable, more reliable.  It isn't jealous or insecure, rather it enjoys growth and new experiences and can be relied upon for sustenance and support.  And so, I'd like to use this space to share some of my experiences with you in hopes that your own relationship with food might become more loving and joyful.