Love Food
Ozemgeez so today we had some sort of family gathering of sorts for Labor Day. First off, my family's fucked up-just as anyone else's I know, and they always try to organize events so we can have a real family reunion like with lots of food and out of town travel and t-shirts and traditions that get carried down through the generations and stuff. That would all be nice if we were actually organized and disciplined enough to do that. Other than that they mostly turn out as attempts at those things which still somehow end up being fun-sometimes depending on who's there. Its like one of those things you know is gonna happen 'cause it never fails to do so no matter how hard you try to change it so it becomes futile but you still do it anyway. I think that we should just accept the fact that we're more like Earth Art which is good for as long as it lasts and is fleeting rather than a solid work of art that endures the test of time. I personally find it pointless to expect things to perform otherwise than how they've consistently performed. Usually it leads to dissatisfaction and other emotions I'd rather not deal with, because if you expected it then why are you upset about it?!?! There's nothing wrong with trying, don't get me wrong! Not trying is even more a crime than trying unsuccessfully! And even though you might expect certain things don't pigeonhole something and not leave room for error in the correctness of your expectations one way or the other. I'm just saying that eventually there comes a point where its not so surprising when something turns out how you thought it would. That's when maybe its time to go with the flow. Or go for radical change?
But I digress! I realized today that I love my family even more when they cook! I know it sound very basic and fat kid but its true. My more immediate family like grandma, aunts, uncles, mom, me, and my sisters. I know we cook like the bomb yo! And trust me, I am actually objective about food I eat from other family members outside of the aforementioned-I treat them just like I would a non-family member's cooking. And some of the people in my family can't cook!!! They all know how to eat, about half of that knows how to cook, and maybe another half of that is talented at it =D Siriusly, I sell out my other family members who don't cook as well as me and people I like! I feel bad for some of my cousins and the things they've had to eat growing up and have called food! You can tell which ones those are when you make the most simplest dish or a simple twist or you personally consider it a crappy suffice that you could've done better and they're freakin blown away by it as if they've never eaten before! lol Its so funny! And I'm not claiming to be the greatest-I have off moments and some stuff is foreign territory and some stuff other people do better than me. But the validation comes when people eat...and either can't stop eating or can't shut up about it or can't get enough. And that's good enough for me!
I like to think that the reason I love my family more when they cook is because they put so much love in their food! Trust me, love makes a difference in how food tastes yo. If this sounds crazy to you then you've never really eaten. Ever. Most everybody likes a home cooked meal...unless their parents cooked shitty, then they want someone else's! But still. Why though? 'Cause it's got love in it!!!! Love food is the shit yo! You can't buy love food at McDonald's! Love food makes you nostalgic...for more love food! For example, my whole family always goes insane for my grandma's caramel cake. She used to make it from scratch-both caramel and cake, but she's a little older now and has a few more aches and pains that she didn't used to so she can't do that as much anymore like she used to. She used to make cakes to say thank you and show appreciation to people for stuff they did and people started requesting cakes and even offering to pay for them! Like I said though, not so much anymore unfortunately. She uses boxed cake mix but still makes the caramel, and even though I personally prefer the old back in the day from scratch cake, the cheat cakes are still good! (I will get her to teach me how to make a cake from scratch! Maybe I can bring back ger cream cheese pound cake from back in the day?!) We helped her make the cakes on Sunday night and took 2 to the event. There was also a chocolate cake there and a pineapple upside down cake. When everybody started finishing up eating and goin for sweets I actually heard family members say "Let me get me a piece of Flora cake 'fo its all gone!". Everybody knows what time it is and what's gonna happen when Flora bring some caramel cake-first come, first served, every man for himself, you better hope she brought more than one or that somebody will be willin to share-which isn't likely! I ate my slice and told some of my family "Now this what food made with love taste like!" lol By the time clean up came a whole caramel cake was already gone, the second only had about 4-6 slices left, the chocolate cake still had one piece left that was there for the longest, and the pineapple upside down cake was picked at if even that! We were able to bring both cake dishes home empty =) My family's love laced food just makes you feel good! It makes you feel like it was crafted just for you with lots of time and care. Makes you feel like they intended for you to enjoy it and they made it 'cause they wanted to. It makes you feel like they love you. And with every bite you appreciate it and love them too =D
But I digress! I realized today that I love my family even more when they cook! I know it sound very basic and fat kid but its true. My more immediate family like grandma, aunts, uncles, mom, me, and my sisters. I know we cook like the bomb yo! And trust me, I am actually objective about food I eat from other family members outside of the aforementioned-I treat them just like I would a non-family member's cooking. And some of the people in my family can't cook!!! They all know how to eat, about half of that knows how to cook, and maybe another half of that is talented at it =D Siriusly, I sell out my other family members who don't cook as well as me and people I like! I feel bad for some of my cousins and the things they've had to eat growing up and have called food! You can tell which ones those are when you make the most simplest dish or a simple twist or you personally consider it a crappy suffice that you could've done better and they're freakin blown away by it as if they've never eaten before! lol Its so funny! And I'm not claiming to be the greatest-I have off moments and some stuff is foreign territory and some stuff other people do better than me. But the validation comes when people eat...and either can't stop eating or can't shut up about it or can't get enough. And that's good enough for me!
I like to think that the reason I love my family more when they cook is because they put so much love in their food! Trust me, love makes a difference in how food tastes yo. If this sounds crazy to you then you've never really eaten. Ever. Most everybody likes a home cooked meal...unless their parents cooked shitty, then they want someone else's! But still. Why though? 'Cause it's got love in it!!!! Love food is the shit yo! You can't buy love food at McDonald's! Love food makes you nostalgic...for more love food! For example, my whole family always goes insane for my grandma's caramel cake. She used to make it from scratch-both caramel and cake, but she's a little older now and has a few more aches and pains that she didn't used to so she can't do that as much anymore like she used to. She used to make cakes to say thank you and show appreciation to people for stuff they did and people started requesting cakes and even offering to pay for them! Like I said though, not so much anymore unfortunately. She uses boxed cake mix but still makes the caramel, and even though I personally prefer the old back in the day from scratch cake, the cheat cakes are still good! (I will get her to teach me how to make a cake from scratch! Maybe I can bring back ger cream cheese pound cake from back in the day?!) We helped her make the cakes on Sunday night and took 2 to the event. There was also a chocolate cake there and a pineapple upside down cake. When everybody started finishing up eating and goin for sweets I actually heard family members say "Let me get me a piece of Flora cake 'fo its all gone!". Everybody knows what time it is and what's gonna happen when Flora bring some caramel cake-first come, first served, every man for himself, you better hope she brought more than one or that somebody will be willin to share-which isn't likely! I ate my slice and told some of my family "Now this what food made with love taste like!" lol By the time clean up came a whole caramel cake was already gone, the second only had about 4-6 slices left, the chocolate cake still had one piece left that was there for the longest, and the pineapple upside down cake was picked at if even that! We were able to bring both cake dishes home empty =) My family's love laced food just makes you feel good! It makes you feel like it was crafted just for you with lots of time and care. Makes you feel like they intended for you to enjoy it and they made it 'cause they wanted to. It makes you feel like they love you. And with every bite you appreciate it and love them too =D