Life Is A Bit Like Cooking…

Pre-prepared is fine once in a while, but you really should be mixing the ingredients for yourself…

I’m not sure if saying “my mom (or dad) prepared most of my family’s meals from scratch” is common any longer.

It’s true for me, and to a large extent most of my children.

And with my own dietary needs changing, I’m exploring cooking more and more…

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Not like the picture

I’ve written before about family meals when I was growing up. Mom was a fine cook, but you had to be careful about the things that made it into the dish.

Substitution became a dirty word.

“We didn’t have any water chestnuts, so I put in some celery” is one that sticks out in my mind.

A collection of tastes and smells

I’m not sure how picky I was in comparison to my siblings – but if it was edible, we’d eat it.

Or we’d learn to add ketchup and jelly to good effect. (ketchup to sauerkraut and mashed potatoes, and jelly to cottage cheese if you must know)

Prepared meals

But it wasn’t often that we’d have a dinner from a frozen box.

And institutional food tends to give me the creeps.

My grandmother

My grandmother both grew and prepared her own meals. While her health started failing only in her late years, I’m certain a good portion of that downward slide had to do with receiving institutional food after an accident landed her in the hospital and ultimately a care facility.

While I like to think facilities offer the best food they can, how could it compare to a meal that you cooked yourself with ingredients that came mostly out of your own garden, cooked to the right taste and done-ness?

(Though now that I know a little something about institutional food, I think the bigger problem is serving food right after it is “done” to large quantities of non-mobile people at the same time…)

But here’s where I’m going to draw my analogy…

Parts of life can be experienced through someone else’s journey – viewed remotely or told indirectly.

But never kid yourself into thinking the best parts can be experienced that way.

Hands-on is a requirement for life, not a recommendation.