Food and Memories

In a previous post, I talked about how cooking was like love. Today, I want to talk about food and memories. As I cut open a grapefruit for part of my breakfast this morning, I took time to think about being a child and eating grapefruits at my grandparents' house. It took me back to that time and how my grandmother always prepared food with love, even if it was just cutting open a grapefruit and putting it on a plate.

Today for lunch, I prepared Spinach and Black Bean Burritos out of The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook, by Cybele Pascal. Pulling the spinach out and tightly packing it reminded me of my aunt and uncle, the ones who introduced me to fresh spinach. As a young adult, the only spinach I had ever eaten was out of a can. (Can you say Blech! with me?) Needless to say, I was pretty skeptical to try it but pleasantly surprised when I actually liked it!

When my husband cooks a grass-fed steak, cuts slits in it for garlic, and then melts blue cheese on top, it reminds me of pre-kids time. When we were newly married, we were together in a great wine and cheese store in Austin, Texas and one of the staff recommended this way to cook steak and a great blue cheese. Wow, talk about awesome!

There are so many times when a particular food or restaurant evokes great memories. These memories are good for the mind, body and spirit. What foods bring about good memories for you?