Breaking Bread.

My wife and I love to cook, and have learned a lot over the years from our families, through online research, watching endless amounts of cooking/baking shows, and most effectively, through guided recipe boxes like HelloFresh (we’ve tried a bunch and HelloFresh remains our fav). Don't get me wrong, we do love take-out from time to time, but our most revered meals are those we prep from scratch, no matter the amount of chopping involved. We’ve also developed a healthy indoor herb garden to enhance each and every meal. There are two main reasons for this deep dive...

First off, we’ve found there is so much more to food than simple ingredients, sprinkling dry seasoning on everything, trying to make an entire meal in one pan to reduce the wash up, etc. Avoiding manufactured shortcuts goes a long way with elevating your cooking to the next level. For instance, take the time to mince fresh ginger or garlic rather than sprinkling powders, try potting fresh herb plants and only harvesting when you are ready to use rather than buying dry or trimmed herbs in the supermarket, think ahead with meat preparation by seasoning the day before a cook; simple upgrades like these make an insane difference in the quality of a dish. We don't even eat pasta anymore unless we make it from scratch!

Although it wasn’t our norm to approach cooking in this way, we’ve had plenty of exposure via our culturally rich families. My wife is second generation Italian, and experiencing her family’s cooking has had a big influence on our culinary approach. For instance, buying fresh, organic ingredients, or adding oxtail to a delicious red sauce. The same goes for my family; my dad food processes sofrito from scratch, always sticking to his family recipe - I’ll save the details for a future post. So, I guess one's knack for this is mostly dependent upon how they were raised and what has been taught to them as normal. If this was/is your normal, please continue what you're doing. If not, I promise you, it is worth the effort.

Secondly, we have some of our most fun as husband and wife in the kitchen, sipping a glass of wine, listening to evening jazz, all while strategizing the timing of each step in the cook. I know I have mentioned this previously, but my wife has been a great help in teaching me to live for each moment in life and celebrate the small things. What better way to do this than popping a bottle of wine and throwing on an apron with a spouse or friend? Even back in college my roommates and I developed a system each semester (depending on our schedules), detailing who would cook which nights of the week, and who would wash up. None of us were very skilled, but we learned to appreciate the time either cooking together or sitting down at the table together, taking a break in our crazy days to break bread and catch up on the day. Of course some evenings are more difficult than others, things happen, different priorities take precedent. But, when the time is right, give it a shot!

Instead of treating cooking as a chore, we try our best to treat it as an opportunity to learn something new, spend quality time together, and use it as the catalyst for a memorable evening together. If Jesus took the time to break bread in thanks with his disciples, before enduring excruciating pain and death, the importance of it for humankind must be paramount. Life is too short to go through the motions, especially when the potential for lasting memories and delicious foods are so easily attained. Chop those onions, season that marbley steak, pluck those herbs, brush those potatoes, and surround yourself with your loved ones like each meal is your last.

Hope you enjoyed the week end read,

Dionisio III