Did you know that by the time you reach your 40th birthday, you will have eaten 50,000 meals and spent over 50,000 hours in a food related atmosphere?
We have to eat to live and yet it’s no longer the special ritual it was in days of old. We often overlook one of the most simple pleasures – to linger, savor and enjoy our time in the kitchen.
For me, the kitchen is the heartbeat of our home. It’s where the senses are engaged and a place where people are drawn to linger. I want it be a place that reflects our love of life.
Our children will think back fondly, not just on the meals eaten here, but the aroma of scented candles and baked goods, the flickering candlelight during the evening meal, the cut flowers donning the mason jars and the soft music floating in the background. Senses engaged in the kitchen.
Often our schedules are incredibly hectic and it seems like family dinners can be pushed aside, but these are the moments that matter. I don’t want to miss out on what could have been had I prioritized our time in the kitchen more. These are the gathering times I remember from my own childhood. My mom slowly stirring the spaghetti sauce that simmered on our GE stove all day long. Guests welcome to pull up an extra place on a moment’s notice and laughing, so much laughing around the table. Memories made.
I want that for our children. Yesterday, we gathered around the kitchen island and my daughters made chocolate chip cookies. Our teen son rushed home to nostalgic smells that permeated the kitchen and the first words out of his mouth affirmed just how quickly we tie senses together to create special memories through food.
For our family and I bet yours too, the mundane and the magnificent intersect around the table. The kitchen allows for those holy moments to happen when we SLOW down and let them.
Meals together are small acts with significant importance.
It’s my desire to create a “welcome home” mentality where every person is comforted, where stresses of the day are washed away, and where guests yearn to pull up a seat and stay.
For me, this begins in the kitchen. Whether it’s something as simple as popping a pizza in the oven and eating it by candlelight or simmering spices on the stove to make your home smell cozy, I want to continue creating memories in the kitchen.
As a child, I remember GE Appliances and their slogan, “We bring good things to life.” It’s so true. Good things need to be brought to life in our home and it’s the little things that mean everything. Let’s not overlook them, rush through them and wish them away.
This week, as I light my candles around the dinner table, I will remember to linger, savor and enjoy because it’s truly the little things that are the big things.
I was especially moved this week, when I watched the Richards Family story here! Adoption is near and dear to my heart and their American Kitchen Story of celebrating culture through cooking was precious.
