Our society has become a fast food nation. We often eat out, if we are lucky, it is at a sit down restaurant but most often, it is a fast food restaurant while we are on the run. I remember growing up, we as a family would go out to eat usually when my Dad got a raise, as a celebration. We would usually eat as a family and have conversation around the dinner table.
I don’t often remember us cooking as a family. Unless you want to count the time that my brother and I were supposed to put a meatloaf in the oven. I tried to tell him there was plastic wrap on it. But as older brothers so often do, he didn’t listen to me. Needless to say, the meatloaf didn’t turn out very well. There were other times like this, where we had to work together to fix dinner for the evening, most of them turned out with better results.
I love to cook. As I got older and now have my own family, I have found one of the best ways for a family to interact is to cook together. During the process of cooking, everyone feels needed and wanted, they are helping each other. The activity allows everyone to enjoy being with each other. Then when someone is asked a question, the spotlight is not focused directly on them and they can be a little more open about answering. It is also a good time for adults to discuss issues concerning the family. I also believe that couples who are planning on getting married should spend time together cooking because it can teach you a lot about one another.
Most kitchens are very poorly designed; usually the biggest problem is that they are too small. However this can work to your advantage, in a small kitchen you must touch someone to get by them or it is easy to give them a small hug. This is especially important if your family consists of teenagers. Most often teenagers are not very receptive of physical contact and will even shy away from it. This allows you the opportunity to give a small hug or touch which means so much to a parent who doesn’t get enough hugs from their children. But, this is also helps the teenager who is ‘too cool’ to accept affection openly.
Cooking is an opportunity for growth. It allows everyone the ability to share, experience one another and be creative. When you have finished it is not something that has no meaning. Instead it is just the opposite; it has more meaning than food from a fast food place or even a nice sit down restaurant, simply because everyone had a hand in creating it.
-Bon Appétit
