For those of you who know me - you will know that cooking is an integral part of my life.
I am Food! Food is me - wherever there is food - not too far away will you find ME!!
I eat food, I cherish food, I cook food, I love food and I have a deep respect for foods of the world!! Food is the life source that gives us our energy - it is also a necessity - it is our fuel.
To me 'Food' is a measuring stick for 'how much a mother loves her children,' or 'how much you love the man in your life'..... it is the gift you give someone sick in hospital, or the gift you give to friends who are having a BBQ, it may be the gift of a surprise birthday cake or as my son's girlfriend made for me - cupcakes - little morsels of heaven, asking to be eaten - the gift of belonging!
Food is designed to give pleasure to our senses and fill the empty bellies after a hard day's work.
Cooking is my passion and often we have all our five children (plus partners) over for 'The Evening Meal.'
No matter how tired I feel - there is always enough energy mustered up to 'cook up a feed' so as to feed the family. It's important to me, as when they all come into the kitchen - I hear their 'Ohhs and Aaahs' and remarks of 'What's Vee cooked tonight?' They all wander through - one by one, noses on alert, guessing and checking through the glass oven door - to see what give-away there may be upon the kitchen bench, looking anxiously at the vegetables or the meats being used, to confirm their guesses.
As the meal is cooking they congregate around the breakfast bar - laughing, cracking 'bad' jokes, and telling tales of the days on-goings keeping me amused with their hilarity as I finish off the last touches. Offers to get the plates out, offers to stir the gravy, whip the cream, get the 'Yorshires' out of the oven or setting the table are never short.
Then I give them the nod! 'Dinner's Out - come get it!' We don't have buffet style very often - usually I serve it up in proportions equivalent to their appetites and age. Dad gets first dibs, then the lads..... each is always completely satisfied and normally there isn't a lot left, after we've all had a go.
Then we share dessert and lastly a brew of Indian Chai - and not the crap sold in cafes - but the real stuff with my own real chai masala as mum taught me to make.
Everyone is thankful and one by one as they leave home to go off into the evening each thanks me personally for the meal.
So why is the Evening Meal so important?
Firstly I believe in the importance of food, Secondly - the importance of family. Good hearty food plus children equals 'Happy Family.' The children have come from different walks of life, their journeys are different, their days are different. They have different stories to share and different small talk to make. With the help of food they release whatever pressures they've felt through the day and share their stories with each other, as they eat together.
Not only have I been blessed to cook Indian (curry) meals - I am also very honoured to have been given skills for cooking almost any other meal. Last year I went to England to meet my Paul's family. His older brother Colin taught me the correct way to cook 'Yorkies' with the secret recipe of which I have managed to cook and have scored the perfect ten!! I have learned to cook various pasta dishes and I think my risotto is to die for.......
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