I can’t believe I haven’t written about this already! I just started reading the book Dinner a Love Story by Jenny Rosenstrach. I’ve only gotten a couple of chapters in, but in the beginning of the book her friend confides in her that she had never made a meal for her kids (ages 2 and 5). She gave them food, but in the form of frozen dinners and prepared foods. Jenny made it her mission to coach her friend how she meal plans and stays organized in the kitchen. One funny aspect of Jenny is that she has written in a “dinner diary” EVERY meal she has made since 1998!! It started when she and her husband were first married and had busy jobs and how it kept them connected as a family to not have the end of the day texts -“what do you want for dinner?” “I don’t know, what do you want for dinner?”
I am lucky to have had parents who cooked every night and my Mom was definitely a meal planner. Once a week shopping and careful planning and a menu for the week stuck to the fridge took the hassle out of what to make after a long work and school day. We would get excited after seeing the menu go up “Tacos on Tuesday!” or “Open faced sandwiches on Friday” (Open faced sandwiches were basically, toasted bread, with cooked bacon, put mozarella cheese on top and melt under the broiler – Mom and Dad added tomatoes to theirs) but we thought that was the best dinner ever!
Recipes and cooking bring so many families together and make great memories. Spending part of summer vacation watching my grandma and mom make grape jelly, or my grandfather cooking bushels of crab in a big pot on a fire pit – are food memories I’ll never forget.
This leads me to probably one of the best presents I’ve ever gotten. And it didn’t cost a penny. As some of you may or may not know last summer I left a job that I worked at for TEN YEARS! That’s a long time to work somewhere. I worked at an architecture firm with about 100 people (shout out to Aria Group). I knew every person, knew their spouses, sisters, brothers, kids, where they grew up, where they lived, and I loved talking to everyone every day at work. When I started there my daughter was only 3, hadn’t started preschool yet, and when I left she was 13 and in 7th grade. My oldest son was only in 4th grade and had already graduated high school when I left. And my middle son would sometimes stop by on his way home from school to say hi (my office was only a few blocks from their school).
As anyone who has left a job, once you give your 2 weeks notice, those 2 weeks go by in like a second! My last day was on a Friday and after work, a bunch of people from my office walked to a local restaurant with a beautiful outdoor patio and I was treated to the best going away party ever. It was a gorgeous August night, perfect weather, lots of drinks and food. I stayed until the very last person left and it was just me and one of the owners Kathy reminiscing about a decade spent together. It was the pefect ending to a great evening.
During the party, I was asked to come on up because they had a gift to give me and my friend Lily handed me this:
I couldn’t imagine what was inside. And when I opened it, I started to cry. Tucked inside were handwritten recipes from all my co-workers. Special recipes that their families had made, recipes that were their specialty – and I few recipes for life, which I’ll share below.
And some recipes weren’t for food:
I thought that was the nicest gift that could have been given to me and I treasure those recipes. That night I read every card with every thoughtful note attached. I still get teary eyed when I look at them!
So, if you are looking for the perfect gift to give a food lover in your life, have friends and family do this and you will see what a wonderful gift this is!
