Food For Thought
As I sat around the dinner table with my family last week, I started thinking about food traditions. I thought about the connection between the meals we prepare and the memories associated with them. I wondered why I deeply crave certain dishes at certain times of the year and why my kiddos like certain meals on certain plates. There is a lot of psychology that goes into food, our memories around meals, and the people we share them with.
Moving into Thanksgiving and the holiday season in general, we will be doing a lot of eating. From cookie exchanges, football appetizers, chili cookoffs and the grand Thanksgiving Feast, our tastebuds are in for a treat! As we enjoy the stories we share around the kitchen island or kid’s card table, I challenge you to consider how we can continue to make food memories for our families and for others.
What can recipes tell us about our families?
Generations pass down special meals. Whether it’s scribbled on the back of a receipt or you have to call your Grandma to ask her how many cups of flour go into the cake - it’s a line from one generation to the next. When we prepare food that has been made for years before us, we can learn about cultures and traditions that pre-date our own families. We can learn about different countries, the ingredients grown there, the language they speak, and the weather. When we take down the recipe book, we’re literally looking into our own history. When we do this, we honor our family lineage and celebrate where we came from. With some modern twists and probably newer kitchen equipment, we take what was made in the past and make it our own.
Why do we lean to food for comfort?
Simply put, good food is associated with good memories. Did your Mom or Dad make you Chicken Noodle Soup as a child when you were home from school with the flu? That warm bowl with delicious-smelling steam brought instant comfort to your tummy. How about your Grandma’s Chocolate Chip Cookies? You probably remember going to her house on a snowy afternoon and spending all day in the kitchen with her, making a mess, and having a blast. BBQ can remind us of afternoons at the lake house. Corn on the cob can remind us of picnics with the neighbors. We have our favorite dishes probably because they remind us of a favorite memory. That’s what we call “Soul Food”.
How can we help others make great memories with food?
Unfortunately, not everyone has a family recipe book or a staple holiday cookie. For many reasons, there are folks who just don’t have a strong connection with a particular dish or menu. However - we can help them start new traditions by encouraging them to make new memories with food. Could you invite over a lonely neighbor for a football party who doesn’t have family nearby? Is there a weekend you could go serve food at the local homeless shelter? Have you considered making a delicious batch of brownies for your church bake sale? There are so many ways you can be generous and hospitable with food. People are always appreciative and you can help spread delicious memories!
As you gather around your kitchen or dining room table in these next few weeks, I encourage you to pause. Think about where these traditions came from, who passed them down to you, and why they are so special. Food carries great weight in our hearts and heads. Let’s celebrate and feast!