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Practice hospitality. Live in harmony with one another.
It's Not About The Cooking
Confession: I really don't like to cook that much, but I thoroughly enjoy having company. Isn't that crazy? Company and a disdain for cooking - the two just don't seem to go together, do they?
My grandmother was like that too. She didn't like to cook. I'll always remember the day she rattled my ice bin with that shocking confession. This, from the world's greatest cook? How could she say such a thing? It was what she said next that has become a standard in the way I view cooking and serving others. She told me that, although she really didn't like to cook, she really enjoyed people coming together at her home, and that food was a great medium. (If you feed them they will come!)
Grandmother made some of the BEST food I ever ate. She became famous in her small town with her homemade pies (coconut cream was my favorite). My grandfather ran a diner and the both of them worked very hard to provide for their family through the specialties they provided their regular customers. They rose VERY early to prepare the day's menu items. We awoke every morning to see her peeling a 50 lb. bag of potatoes for french fries, and to the wonderful smell of homemade chocolate filling for one of her pies. Grandfather would be in the pantry grinding all the beef for hamburgers and pork for barbeque sandwiches.
Grandmother would go from helping her husband to preparing food for her family, and anyone else that happened down her driveway that day. She decided, as a young woman, that she needed to develop the art of cooking if that was what brought people to her home. That attitude served her very well for many years, and I would venture to guess that not many people ever knew that she really didn't like to cook (until now ;-) ).
Now, contrast that with my mother-in-love, who absolutely LOVES to cook. She relishes the idea of spending a whole day in the kitchen slaving over a hot stove. One of the things I've learned from her is that the wow factor is not in WHAT you make, but in HOW you present it.
She doesn't use complicated recipes. In fact, she is very much a boxed mix and jarred sauce type of cook. What she does have in her favor, and what wows her guests, is her contagious hospitable spirit and entertaining personality. I dare say that if her brownies burned she'd scrape the bottoms off, turn them upside down, slap a huge dollop of whipped topping on each one and top them off with the shavings of a shredded candy bar. You'd think you had just ordered the specialty dessert of the week at some fancy restaurant. She'd enter the dining room with a tray filled, all while laughing and carrying on like nothing had ever burned in the kitchen.
Can you see what my grandmother and my mother-in-love have in common, though their views of cooking are totally different? They both love the idea of their homes bringing people together. Hospitality can be nurtured and developed, whether you love cooking or not.
This attitude is one that I hope to continue perfecting as time goes on and the Lord continues to bring people to our home. Now, where did I put that box of macaroni and cheese? H
1 comment:
It is so true that food brings people together. I enjoyed reading this article as it's helped me to remember many gatherings. Your article is so timely with the holiday seasons upon us.
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