Kitchen Business

It seem to me that our three basic needs for food, and security and love are so entwined that we cannot think of one without the other.  M.F.K. Fisher

The place I like best in the world is the kitchen. No matter where it is, no matter what kind, if it's a kitchen, if it's a place where they make food it's fine with me.                                                           Banana Yoshimoto

I'm reading a book called simply Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto written more than twenty years ago and it's charming. After the main character's Grandmother dies, her last living relative, "I pulled my futon into the deathly silent, gleaming kitchen...I slept. The hum of the refrigerator kept me from thinking of my loneliness." This reminded me that in 1985 when I was about to finish graduate school I had a less serious but similar experience.

I decided to go to graduate school in 1983 and had many anxious thoughts about going. I was anxious that I would be the oldest student in the class. That proved to be untrue. I was anxious about the long commute, I'm not sure that my 90 mile commute was even the most difficult one of our class. I was anxious to leave my husband and sons. My husband and I were raising teenagers [!] and I was working part time at our local community alcohol center, not easy all the way around. Then, unfortunately for me the school was not all that kean on "at a distance" students so I had to continually buck their system and fight for every class I had to take. "I'll be there taking this course on Thursday," I'd say, "but Ms. Grout, we're sorry that class is full," they'd say. "Thursday is the only day I can take classes and I will be there." Knowing full well there were students that had no constraints on them and much more flexible schudules and could take the class at another time. Rather than continually fight me [perhaps I even had a tear of frustration in my eye] they relented and let me take the classes I needed on Thursday and Friday morning. So, although I had limited resources and limited time, I pursued a master's degree in Psychology with all kinds of energy some of it, of course, nervous energy.

Then, as I was entering my last semester, in what only can be described as a fit of insanity, we decided to re do our floors and carpet the upstairs.We couldn't afford to go to a hotel , so as ridiculous as it sounds, we all had to choose where to sleep. I can't remember where our sons slept but Mr. G and I choose to sleep next to the fridge. Rescued from the closets, above our heads, were all of our clothes strung across the kitchen. I wouldn't go so far as to claim it was cozy, but the 'hum from the refridgerator' did quiet my whirling brain enough for me to sleep. My cat Rufus frequently sleeps there now--- probably for the same reasons, minus the whirling brain, his brain is the soul of calm.

[Our insanity did not abate, years later we had a family reunion while we were painting our  house, but I leave that for another post.]

We must gather at the table, alone or with friends or with lots of friends or with one friend and eat a meal together. We know that without food we would die. Without fellowship life is not worth living.                                                   Laurie Colwin

The kitchen is the hub of my little house, a bright and sunny place. I painted it in cheerful colors that don't exactly match but pleases me enormously. Everyone hangs out in my kitchen and I'm one of those cooks that actually loves it when people offer to help or are just willing to talk to me while I prepare a meal. One of our friends who is an excellent cook* has her husband read to her while she cooks. They have gone through the entire series of Horation Hornblower and other adventure stories while she stirs various pots. I love that. I listen to the radio or music while I cook and as I've said in a previous post, use recipes only as jumping off points. Food to me is associated with good times and people, probably because I'm from a restaurant family. I love to serve good food and find the best conversations are centered around a fine meal. When asked, our son's friends said what they liked best about our house were the dinners. This is heart warming to me. Food prepared with love is life giving.

My greatest food enthusiast and fan

*Why is it that all the good cooks you know [except my brother and nephew-in-law] are all women but the "famous chefs" are predominately male?? Speculate wildly.

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