I have never lived anywhere but that long strip of states that march right down the middle, and the vast majority of that in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I grew up on pretty stereotypically American food, especially considering that the adults in the household didn't really enjoy cooking. Plenty of meat and potatoes, spaghetti with store-bought sauce, Hamburger Helper, etc. More effort was made around the holidays though. Turkey's the size of toddlers were roasted, jello and cool whip containing "salads" were made, sweet potatoes dotted with marshmallows, filled the table.
But I was 20 years old before I knew you could make whipped cream.
There were certain foods that were mysteries or at the very least ranked high enough in the difficulty and complication range to merit not attempting. Cakes and brownies needed a box. Sauces a jar. Even a spice mix for tacos was purchased premixed. So, when I ventured out to shop for my own kitchen I was shocked to discover how little those boxes, packets, and jars provided beyond a tiny bit of convenience.
It was the health issues of my second child that solidified my relationship with food though. He was diagnosed with eosinophilic gastroenteritis at 15 months old. Basically it meant that when his body was reacting to a food, his immune system would try to destroy the food and whatever cells/tissue was near by. His list of "no" foods was ever-changing and long. There was very little storebought foods that were safe for him, so I learned how to not only cook but how to pull apart what role the ingredient served in a recipe. I also had to become familiar with the botanical families' different ingredients were from and what role these ingredients served in other cultures. If another culture is actively using an ingredient, you can bet some decent money that they are creating something gorgeous with it.
This was in the early 00's so although we lived in DFW at the time and had a Whole Foods near by, accessing other ingredients was a challenge. I developed relationships with amaranth farmers, small grocery coop owners, and the ordering departments at large grocery stores. I made friends with other parents with kids with food allergies so we could buy an ingredient in bulk and then split it. I interrupted complete strangers on their shopping trips to find out how they were going to cook "insert unfamiliar ingredient here". Did you know you can make french fries out of turnips?
But it wasn't until my favorite author, Barbara Kingsolver published "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" that I gave any thought to American food culture or the lack of it. She and her family spent a year eating only food from their farm or those around them and then wrote a book about their experience. They also included information about our country's farming practices, over-reliance on a small handful of ingredients, and lack of food security. It was the words she wrote about loving food that stood out the most. The idea of the time spent creating food as being valuable, something to look forward to, and not just to get through that spoke to me the most. She also suggested that if you didn't grow up in a household with food traditions, to create your own for instance a pizza/movie night. So we did. Granted, one of our pizza's was made on a crust made from millet, but my family of four sat down to watch "The Muppet Show" and eat pizza together.
We are celebrating our 14th year doing this together. The trick was to realize that perfection wasn't the goal, being together was. Some weeks the pizza is ordered. Some weeks it happens on a Saturday instead of a Friday. Some weeks, the whole crew isn't there. And that's okay. We are building something that our children will hopefully want to pass down to their children or create some version of their own, not something that will look beautiful in a picture.
My son's allergies and that book are the reason why we've learned how to do all sorts of cool things.
1. Find local sources for ingredients(you can buy flour grown and mill here in Wichita!!)
2. Create food--kefir water, yogurt, bread, and more. There's something magical about watching it all come together to make what it was supposed to that makes me want to stand and crow.
3. Plant a garden and freeze the produce. It's nothing fancy but this is the second year we've been able to harvest enough basil to make a year's worth of pesto. And the first year we had enough tomatoes to make several month's worths of tomato sauce!
4. Keep disposable baking pans on hand for dinner drop-offs. Nothing creates community better than dinner dropped off on a porch during a time of need. And relax the definition of "need", sometimes a friend is just having a rough week and needs a casserole just as much as when someone is sick:)
Food is gorgeous. It should be adored, respected, and valued. But most of all, it should be enjoyed and shared.
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