Elegant Dining

Mom called the other day upon the arrival of her food. She was crying. She had just tasted the chicken salad and was calling to tell me how incredible it was. She was overwhelmed with the food, the flavors, the work she knows I put into it, and the gift it is to her.

Her tears filled me with sheer joy. That made it all worth it. All of the planning, the shopping, the cooking, the packaging and the delivering. This is what it's all about, not just feeding mom's body--I want to feed mom's heart and soul. I want to feed her with love and wonder and excellence.

I'm only giving back to mom a fraction of what she has given me. Such a small offering. But all I have today, from my life to hers.

Mom cooked every single day of her married life, three meals a day and probably a heck of a lot of snacks in between. My mother even cooked over camp fires so that her children could have vacations and travel. Mom didn't especially like cooking over campfires. :) So many lessons my mom gave to me through her cooking.

Some of the items I choose to make for mom are dishes she cooked for us: broiled chicken, broiled steak, "red cooked." Mom's favorite cookbook was The Joy of Cooking. I love to pay homage to her dishes by returning them to her today. But I also like to make her things she's never tasted before, epicurian delights to send her taste buds dancing.

I like to choose for mom things beyond her imagination. But not beyond her sense of delicious delight.