Monday, August 15, 2011

Guest Blog- A Decade of Kitchen Love


Well hello there friends! Annabel asked me to guest blog and while this blog is later than she wants, because of a little cold I’ve caught, I hope you all enjoy it either way. Annabel and I have known each other for over a decade! A DECADE! For someone who has only seen two decades and some change, this is a big deal. We met in middle school where Annabel assumed I was :ehem: less than kind.  That’s where our friendship started and flourish all through middle, high school, college and even survived while I was studying abroad. She has been one of my closest and best friends and one of the best way we’ve connection is through……….drum rollll..FOOD!

It must have been in high school when our mutual love for cooking came up. Annabel was an experienced talent in the kitchen who had a radar for amazing recipes, from there on we were a pair. Annabel and I have spent countless hours in front of the kitchen or over countless meals spilling our guts about school, work, boys and god knows what else that was going wrong with our lives at the time. We’ve attempted some more intricate recipes that have come out fabulous, but also had our share of mishaps like putting **literally pounds** of butter into some chocolate cookies before a potluck and we ate so many while we were cooking I thought I’d never eat again!

This is not new news to me that we live in a culture that worships food. It’s everywhere, we see ads for it, commercials for it on TV. Hopefully I’m not the only one who sees a commercial for a food and then instantly craves it…its not just me, right?!.....right? Anyway, so food is central to our lives, always has been. And it is one of my favorite parts of my relationship with Annabel. Knowing that if we had nothing better to do that I could go over to Annabel’s and we would play in the kitchen with some random recipe and everything would be okay.  Food and Annabel have been my godsend. And for her I will always be grateful.

A lot of the best times I’ve spent with people have been spent in the kitchen. All those years watching my mom and dad cook Thanksgiving feast prepared me to cook a Turkey Day feast to a group of Finns when I did my exchange year in Finland. Despite language and cultural barriers we were able to sit down and share that meal together. It was one of my fondest memories of my exchange, cooking and teaching them about an American tradition.

One of my favorite things that my boyfriend and I did when we first started dating was we cooked together! I was so excited for a man not only wanted to cook for me, but wanted my help! Not only did we talk for hours while we were cooking, but we learned a lot about each other and learned how well we work together as a team.  This is one of my favorite things to do after a long tough day, go home and cook with him.

Hopefully you all have enjoyed my antics and look back and see how cooking has helped you with life and with your relationships too. For some, cooking is stressful, for others it’s a release and for Annabel, and me, it helped build our friendship.

                                       -M

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