What I have in common with Julia Childs

"I was thirty-two when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate."
— Julia Child

So, in the interest of family health, I am endeavoring to learn to cook. So far, I've made a few different dishes, all of which people were willing to eat, and occasionally more than one serving. I've done a few things for the first time recently: chopped a red bell pepper, used cumin (does anyone know what that is?), been excited about buying measuring cups, eaten something I knew had red bell peppers in it, longed for new measuring spoons (fancy ones I saw with pretty flowers on them), just poured directly into a pan without measuring, and liked the taste of food that I knew had carrots and red bell peppers in it.

These achievements may sound like small potatoes to some of you, but you must realize this is written by a woman who didn't try pepper or mustard (let alone spicy mustard) until she was in her mid-twenties. I was essentially raised by two women with stomach ulcers. The only seasonings I grew up with were salt, and parsley. Speaking of parsley, I've never figured out what it adds to a dish other than little green flecks.

So you can see that I am a true beginner at this. Prior to the culinary adventures of late, I could only claim to be a moderately good grilled cheese sandwich chef, with occasional successful ventures in baking. To everyone else this may all seem elementary, and perhaps you are thinking that I have taken on this responsibility a bit late in life. Perhaps you are right. None the less, I have.

Once, I hated cooking. It seemed only like a necessity, the same way that peeing and breathing are required for existence. Perhaps there were some meals better than others (especially if someone else was cooking), but really it was just about sustenance. Now, I have taken on a new attitude. Cooking is becoming an act of love. A minor holy event. A time that I can ease health and the spirit of caring into the bodies of those who mean the most to me, rather than forcing convenient toxins down in haste. It is a strange and new meditation for me. A wonderful new lesson in the many ways of loving.