food = good

This is yet another post about food.

Tonight I had the time and space to consider what it is that draws me in about preparing food and eating. More than ever in my life I am relying on food to make me happy and not in the greedy, binge-eating kind of way you might be thinking of. I like the way that I am enthused to try new recipes, new food and new ideas. I like the way I take my time to plan my meals and source fresh ingredients. I like thinking about food. I like writing about food. I like talking about food. 

A good day for me is when, at the end of the day, I dish up a meal that we eat together as a family and it tastes good.

Lately I have met a number of people who have that twinkle in their eye when I mention food. Do you know the one? It might be as simple as discussing what one of us is making for dinner. I like to hear about dishes I haven't tried or methods I haven't heard of. 

This has got me wondering about the role of food. Granted - food is a critical part of life - but beyond meeting the basic need to eat - food can be exciting. It's an avenue in which to explore and create with colours, textures, tastes (of course); through familiarity and the unknown. 

There's that old cliché that food connects people. Beyond a banquet and shared dishes is conversation, the sharing of stories, the connecting of people through the very basic act of eating. 

For the last two weekends we've had friends over for meals. The warmer months are the ideal time for this at our place. The children can play in the yard while the adults catch up over a champagne or a beer. While we've sat there with our drinks, eating fine food we discuss parenting, and work, and families and friends and politics and life. There are snippets of conversations in the kitchen as a salad is assembled, at the barbecue as the meat is cooked, next to the paddling pool while the kids throw themselves in. As we sit in front of a table of food it's obvious that the meal is so much more than the eating, so much more than the act of eating together and much more than the need to nourish the body. We've all pitched in to make this meal and the children sit on a picnic rug eating together too.

Is it just me or does food taste better when eaten with friends and family?

I've recently realised that talking about food with people has opened up a part of me. It has allowed me to connect with people over something other than parenting too. As a stay-at-home mum it can be difficult to find purpose even when you are doing a very important job.

Each day both of our children help prepare our food and they love it. Our almost-2 year old daughter is perfecting the art of egg cracking and today she cracked two without dropping shell into the pancake mixture. Our almost-4 year old drew faces on all the mangoes yesterday. Scary monster faces. I like the way he connects with his food.

A few times a week we make certain we sit together as a family, have an early dinner, and eat together - no phones, no screens, conversation and just being together.

Food has given me a new purpose. The result may be feeding my family over an enjoyable meal but the process of delivering that dish is so much more.

If you, like me, like food and feel lucky that, this Christmas you'll be able to share a meal with your nearest and dearest perhaps you'd consider donating a plate ($25 main, $50 the lot) to the Wayside Chapel who feeds about 600 people on Christmas Day - people who don't necessarily have anywhere else to be on the day. You can donate in the name of a friend too.