Fall is not only a new start, but it is also a time for reflection. How has the year gone so far? What am I harvesting right now, and what seeds do I want to plant for next season? This got me thinking…..Life is a recipe, but one without instructions. It is just one where you add a bit of this and that and toss in the flavors that you desire.
Many of the flavors that I learned early on came out of Mom’s green recipe box. She’d gotten it in Bavaria in the late 1960s when my dad (and she) was stationed in Germany before leaving for Vietnam. Her main go-to for cooking in those early years of married life was Betty Crocker’s Dinner for Two cookbook. When she returned from Germany, she had her lovely little green box, which over the years had been stuffed full of handwritten recipes from Gram or her best friend Bea, who signed all of her recipe cards “Beep,” along with newspaper and magazine clippings. She had a love for German food. Gram was the baker of the family, but Mom loved to throw together appetizers and desserts (nachtisch), and she loved to entertain, always setting an immaculate table.
The process of sifting through the recipes was both a trip down memory lane and a little peek into what whetted her appetite. Mom cooked healthy and economical meals, and we had definitive “special occasion” foods like spaghetti or beef stroganoff. When I was old enough to walk up to the corner market, I would leave with a list for the butcher’s counter; mom would write on a little piece of paper torn from one of those flip up steno notepads: ‘1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef’, ‘Pork Chops 2” thick’ etc, I would order, them and get white paper wrapped packages to tote home to become the weeks tostadas, pork-chop casserole, salisbury steak or chicken a’la king. These meals were always eaten around the kitchen table; unless it was a special occasion, when we would sit at our beautiful old pine dining table to be fancy! Meal time was for talking about your day (my brother always started his turn by saying ‘I woke up…’), catching up, and nourishing our family’s relationships……Except on Monday nights during football season, that was TV Trays and dad’s favorite BLTs!
Those were the early days of my food journey. As B and I started our life together in 1993, we wanted to emphasize the importance of food to us. I know, I know it's important to everyone! But to us, it is more than the expected 'we need it to survive' kind of way. A large reason for the decision to move to the homestead was so that we could take a more active role in growing our own food and to teach our kids about food sources and eating fresh local items. We wanted to merge these thoughts while trying to recapture the childhood moments in Mom’s kitchen with our own family. It is a real challenge to change the food culture of a family, and it emerges a little more with every season.
I have read many books detailing the different parts of our food system, its history, where it is headed, the most healthy ways to eat, etc. Everyone has their own take, but there are some very consistent underlying themes: moderation, local, fresh, and slow food. I found that Karen Le Billon’s book French Kids Eat Everything stuck with me the most, and it is a must-read if you have young children, where you could utilize some of the simple ideas early on. It had my head swimming. Where to start? When making major changes, we’ve learned it’s best to treat them as a marathon and not a sprint. I have such a hard time with this. I am definitely an implementer, give me the idea and I’m off and running! I see where I want the result to be and then feel somewhat guilty if I can't get there as quickly as I think I should. As my kids were older when I read Karen’s book, I decided to tackle one component, snacking.
Since we started our journey, our kids have become well aware of what real food is. Not processed; fresh and homemade (which, many times, is much easier done than you would expect and for less money than pre-packaged processed items). We always required a “no thank you bite” from them on each new thing we tried. But in day-to-day life, hurried schedules between school and after-school activities, we always had a supply of kids’ snacks for them to nosh on, on the fly. These snacks tended to be the lesser of evils, healthier choices than much of what is available, but filler nonetheless. The grazing mentality we tend to have as Americans, eating snacks or food on the go, is simply thoughtless filler. Something used to fill the unsatisfied space that was left from a poorly eaten previous meal.
As related in this book, the French have a single planned snacking time a day, and there is no snacking done in between. If you are hungry, then you will appreciate and savor the next meal. Breakfast, Lunch, a 4 pm goûter (mini meal), and then dinner, in France, normally 730-8 pm. For many in North America, this may seem difficult with the later timing; for our family, this structure worked. Most nights, we did not eat supper until around 7 pm. That was three hours after school was over, so plenty of time for a healthy and satisfying 'goûter' to tide everyone over. This is where we began this phase of our food journey; goodbye free-range snacking!
Recipe: A favorite snack for the kids was blood orange slices drizzled in olive oil and topped with diced Kalamata olives. A square of 60% cacao, and a little piece of baguette with butter and honey (because our bees were producing honey like crazy at the time). They ate while sitting at the kitchen table, and they were eager to talk about the food and brainstorm ideas for the next day’s goûter. I would say that they savored every bite, well, except for Charles, who put the whole square of cacao in his mouth at once, giving me a chocolaty, toothy grin afterwards.
Food culture in many other countries is a family culture. It is the time of day to be revered; family time, a time to savor the abundance around you. This lifestyle is not just for the wealthy or food snobs; it is for everyone. Taking a few moments to put a meal together (enjoying that process as a ritual), then sitting down and stopping the fast pace around us to focus on one another. When my mom was in the hospital, I think she sensed her mortality. A question she asked me was, “What have I taught you?” This question was out of the blue and out of left field. I realized then that she was wanting to take stock at the end of her life. And, though we did not, could not have known it at that time, I believe she sensed it, and was looking for comfort. Having spent the last couple of years reflecting on this, the answer to that question is: she taught me the importance of a meal. Not only the food, but the gathering. Coming together as a family or a tight group of friends nourishes not only the body but the soul. Those stories got their start with Mom’s little green recipe box.
We developed our most cherished friendships around hosting and attending our dinner club; those stories of mayhem are for another chapter in this, my food life.
Until next time,
Hello friend! My name is Amy. I am so happy you have stopped by ✨ If you are new here, a warm welcome to you! This space is where I meander through midlife, connecting to my true self through the seasonal shifts and simpler living, and seeking my inner wise woman. If you are also on this path and looking for someone to walk gently beside you, I see you and am here. Let’s color outside the lines together.
I loved reading this Amy and we share a very similar food philosophy although I can’t claim to have got this from my Mum. Although to be fair we always ate home cooked meals around a table and very few snacks. Eating together, eating fresh produce where possible and avoiding ultra processed food is my mantra!