When I first met my husband, I could barely boil water. On one of our first dates, I boiled the angel hair pasta for way too long and it became a big clump of starch. I burned stuff. Things just were not great. As the years went on, my mom would email me easy recipe ideas and Chris and I fell in love with cooking shows. We watched a lot of Jacques Pépin. Just watching these shows made me want to get in the kitchen. The beauty of the ingredients, the house being filled with amazing smells and sitting down to a meal that I created became a passion of mine. A total labor of love for my family. It’s such a wonderful way to express gratitude and care for others – filling their bellies with healthy and delicious food.

As things happening in world continue to make me feel uneasy, food and the creation of yummy things comfort me. Right now as I type this, there’s a banana bread in my oven and a piece of filet mignon thawing for a stir fry that will be dinner. I like to think ahead about what meals I will make and look forward to them. Cooking is calming – chopping, stirring, adding spices and being appreciative of the farmworkers who helped grow and pick the vegetables and produce. Being really thoughtful about the process – choosing the ingredients, laying them all out, taking photos of them in beautiful light and then bringing them all together, sitting with a glass wine to eat it and let it and nourish our bodies. It’s such a joy.

Loving life,

Carolyn