Today, I’m grateful that someone else is cooking – namely, the school cafeteria. Many of the people at the school where I work gather for lunch on Wednesdays, and it’s a wonderful morning when I don’t have to, in a tizzy, see if there are leftovers in the fridge. I didn’t appreciate at all what I had going for me as a child and when attending college; other people made my food, and I didn’t have to spend hours a day making or thinking about the food I would eat.
No lie, I love taking time to cook (really, you think?) – I think mindful cooking is one of the most wonderful experiences, when you are letting your worries go and thinking about food as a nourishing part of life. The problem comes when cooking isn’t mindful at all – you don’t really have time to cook anything so you choose something fast that doesn’t nourish you well, or you cook something with resentment in your heart because you wish you weren’t so rushed. No one can help having these times once in a while, and I’ve had a lot of them lately with school starting up again.
However, the one nice thing about experiencing these difficult moments of non-mindful cooking is that it makes me so much MORE mindful when I have time to sit down to a meal prepared by someone else. The folks who work at our school cafeteria are so kind and good, so accommodating of the staff and students, and I am always a little honored to eat the food they make. Plus, in this case, by not having to cook myself, I’m winning a few minutes to really enjoy every bite of salad, every forkful of potatoes, and definitely the dash of whipped cream on top of dessert. I know it would have taken me ages to make even the most simple of cafeteria food spreads, and getting to eat them quickly and in good company is a blessing.
Do you have a favorite memory of a meal prepared for you? It can be a restaurant or a particular person, but what meal really makes you grateful for food and for those who make it?
Recipe in a Bottle 
Mindful eating is very important!
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My late mother was a wonderful cook. She had a lifelong interest in food and a personal library of bookcases overflowing with cookery books. When I was a child she taught me to make poppyseed-sprinkled challah. The freshly-baked, golden, braided bread was a delight to look at. We devoured it first with our eyes, and then simply devoured it in the regular way 🙂
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My Mum makes the best shepherd pie and it’s a wonderful comfort food. Mindfulness in general is an amazing tool but I definitely need to work on mindful eating.
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My Welsh grandmother used to make little flat pancakes with dried raisins called welsh cakes – cooked on the top of her tiny stove. Totally delicious. Such a happy time.
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My mom’s roll mops were amazing!
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I should clarify. Her version was tender beef wrapped around bacon and onions in a thick gravy.
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I remember when I was in high school, before Prom, my boyfriend and I went to a restaurant owned and run by the parents of one of my friends. She had never wanted to tell us her family had a restaurant for some reason, but it was an old Italian place and Italian is one of ny favorites, so I made us reservations. 20+ years later I still remember the fresh pasta, the sweetness of the vegetables and the tender chicken. It was the best dinner I had ever eaten and still ranks up there in my top 5 best meals ever. I was so mad at my friend for hiding it from us for so long.😄
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Usually it’s a meal with friends–I’ve been invited and maybe brought a bottle of wine or a dessert. Then I sit down to good conversation and a meal I didn’t have to cook and get to enjoy the food! Bliss!
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Being a Chef and finding out you have food allergies is hard to take, so people quit inviting me/us over to eat and we rarely go out for food (unless I have absolutely nothing to do for at least 4 days so I can be sick), so I really wish someone would cook for me!! Other then that my fav to cook is homemade Pizza with real smokehouse meats and lots of toppings covered with with lots of Motza and Sharp Ceddar…. Now I’m hungry! thanks a lot ! lol .. 🙂 Lb..
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Recently I had a date with my boyfriend, I’m good at making pancakes but that day I couldn’t be bothered to cook anything, so I prepared everything and he fried eveything and served it wonderfully. I trully appreciate those moments when we cooperate in this way.
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I also love taking time to cook. I also love to feed people! And I am lucky to have a husband who is a great home cook. I am so grateful for that.
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Too many stories but my Granny’s brown soda bread is a thing I will miss until the day I die.
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Thank you for this wonderful story. While I practice mindful eating, I have not heard ‘mindful cooking’, and it is such a wonderful description. I personally love to cook, and cooking for me is never a chore, when I’m cooking I love get ‘in the zone’ that state where you automatically reach for spices before you can even articulate what it is you are looking for: that’s what it’s all about.
There are a couple of meals that stand out for me, but I particularly recall something my father used to make before he passed: he called ‘baby clam cocktail’. It is baby clams, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and some other spices, and it goes well with crackers. My dad was never much of a cook, but I recall him making this for me and it is very special.
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My Depression Spaghetti LOL
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