Food: The Fun Part of Life

My love affair with food goes all the way back to…my roots? My culture? I guess both but it more specifically goes back to my dad. I’m going to blame it all on him and if he were still here, I guarantee he’d be mighty proud to own it. The notion of believing you’re not full “until your belly hurts” and the old cliché “you eat with your eyes” are two dead ringers for the philosophies that ran through our household. Food was always an exciting adventure because it meant one or all of these: hanging out with friends, family gatherings, visiting cool places. My family, in particular, became known for our ability to eat; an accolade that I’m rather entertained by, even though I should probably be embarrassed. Good food that’s plentiful is a bit hard to find but if it existed, my dad answered the call. To honor this legacy, my siblings and I continue to carry on the food frenzy to this day.

Over the years, I had packed away so much food at buffets that if restaurants could cry, they would. Buffets weren’t really intended for people, like me, who eat everything and A LOT of it; they were for people that like to take small portions in an effort to sample many items. It’s a good thing the tower of clean plates was always 20- deep at these places — I probably took 10 of them in a single pass.

I’m the person that was known for thinking during breakfast, about what great thing I wanted to eat for lunch. At lunch, I was already daydreaming about dinner. And at dinner, well, you guessed it–what would I eat for breakfast the next day? Somewhere along the line, though, life became chaotic and cooking or dwelling over what we ate became something like the 10th fiddle (not even 2nd) down the chain. Work, kids, school, sports, chaos. Chaos everywhere. We ate out more than we cooked and barely hand time to think amidst the process. It was a game of survival.

Fast forward to the pandemic of 2020. Yup, the crisis that brought our social lives to a halt; turned our priorities on their heads; and made us stop and really think about our lives. Of course, while everyone else was contemplating life, I was thinking about food. Just kidding, I really did tap into those moments of reflection and plenty came up but since we’re talking about food, let me inform you that one of the revelations included needing to seize the moment and do something I loved – cook! Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Mexican, Italian, BBQ, seafood, and on and on. Yep, it may seem trivial but with this new found time, I was going to hit the kitchen and create a months-long food experiment that would make any food lover proud! Dishes I thought could only come from a restaurant have been made in my kitchen (mind blown), some of my very favorite foods; some unique foods; some questionable dishes, too.

I may have set the fire alarm off a few times but the house is still standing. Well, maybe that alarm went off more than a few times. Ok, so many times that friends on social Zoom calls and phone chats have heard it blaring and are reading this and laughing. Not to mention my family who no longer reacts to the sound. All I hear from that crew is, “Mom’s cooking againnnnn!” My fire alarm and I have a very tight bond, I’m not ashamed of that. Thanks to my pals for continually cheering me on (I eventually got the recipes right and you never even had to call the fire department) and to my family for letting me inundate them with conversations about recipes, photos of plated food, and random containers of “Here, try this! It’s so good” dishes.

A category for this incredible food carnival will soon make its debut on the blog. I’ll share some of the things I’ve made, including pictures, tips, recipes and plenty of blooper stories. Stay tuned, it’s going to be a fun!

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