Food, glorious food

“Food, glorious food!” It is probably a reflection that, unlike the orphans in Annie, I do get regular meals, so I don’t always feel as excited about food as this song suggests. Don’t get me wrong. I do really like food. But often when I am faced with what to make for dinner, AGAIN, I am less than enthusiastic. After (almost) 18 years of marriage and being the primary cook for our family, I find myself in ruts. I find myself making the same old thing over and over again. I come from a great line of southern cooks, but now that I’ve learned battering and frying everything is not particularly healthy, it definitely limits the meals I can use from my upbringing.

I recently went and checked out several recipe books from the library looking for inspiration. But that only served to overwhelm me. I have in the past tried recipes from books, only to be disappointed that after all the effort required to find a new recipe, get all the various ingredients and spices, and follow the directions, I found that we as a family didn’t particularly care for it. Especially when I am attempting to find something healthy. So as I type I still haven’t planned out a dinner for tonight, let alone a menu for the week.

Many years ago, I compiled a family cookbook for Christmas. I took one or two recipes from each family, threw in some of my grandma’s favorites and printed them out for gifts. I still pull that one out, but actually probably know most of them by heart now. I also did a recipe exchange with my cul-de-sac friends a couple of years ago. Again it was family favorites that were easy to prepare. Some of those became regular dishes for us. It seems that there is a much higher success rate (at least for me) of finding good recipes when they come from moms that actually cook them and like them as opposed to just reading through cookbooks. Grandmas with their life experience seem to be a great source too. Maybe the hard part is just making those connections with the good cooks out there and being willing to ask and share.

You know there’s going to be a likewise here- right?

Likewise, I have found that sometimes the community of getting together with fellow Christians can really help me in getting to the good stuff in the bible. You can get in ruts, thinking through maybe the same thoughts, or reading from the same ‘safe’ passages. Sometimes when you just try to dive in somewhat randomly, you can get a little overwhelmed. Obviously the Bible is much more important than a mere cookbook. It’s also not an adequate metaphor in that hopefully we can find a way and place to read from this book everyday. But sometimes it can really be helpful to find someone that has already worked through parts of it and is really living it. Sometimes it’s nice to have some ‘well used recipes’ from God’s word that have been tried and true for someone. Sometimes we need someone with some life experience that has been cookin’ with Jesus for a while.

I pray we can all find someone who is putting those ingredients together and has it smellin’ good. And maybe we can all look for those recipes/stories that we need to share and pass them along. Now, back to planning for dinner…