Why I love food

Because this is a food blog I'll excuse you from my life story. Instead I'll simply tell you about how food has shaped my life.

My first memories of food come from my great grandmother. She is my inspiration in life. If I can be half the cook, baker and woman that she was, I know I will live a fulfilled life. I can remember spending the days with her baking bread. I will forever attribute the smell of bread dough to her. At lunch she would make me spaghetti and cheese. Many times I have tried to recreate that infamous meal, and it's never turned out the same. I know it's only spaghetti and Velveeta cheese, but it just doesn't taste right. I realize now it's probably the memories I love so much, and I can never recreate those.

Growing up I was surrounded by strong women who knew how to cook. I can remember making individual pumpkin pies with my mom and grandma, sitting on the counter with flour all over. Helping mom cook supper and taking the can of mushrooms that was supposed to go in the meal and eating them all.

I can remember my best friend and I experimenting with food constantly. Being bored during the summer we would see what food was in the house and just start combining. Some of the food turned out, most didn't but that didn't matter. It was the fun we had and learning what combinations worked and what didn't.

In high school and early college, I think I forgot about my passion for cooking. I still appreciated good food, but I wasn't the budding cook in the kitchen anymore. Don't get my wrong, Food Network was still my favorite thing to watch, but I wasn't recreating anything I watched Bobby Flay or Rachael Ray make. The cook in me didn't reappear until I was out of the dorms and was able to cook on my own again. I started small, with recipes my mom had taught me. I soon began printing off recipes from the Internet and teaching my boyfriend (now husband) how to cook.

Vance didn't appreciate food like I did. He grew up in a small town with small town eating habits. He was definitely a meat and potatoes type of guy. Once we began dating I wanted him to try foods he either said he didn't like or had never had. It took awhile but he did. I would try recipes out on him and he loved almost everything I put in front of him (well except onions, I'm still working on that one).

Now he's in the kitchen right next to me. Our kitchen might be small, but there's a lot of good food coming out of it. From Mexican (my favorite) to Italian to Burgers, we cook it all. I get so much satisfaction from putting a meal on the table that I have created, tasting it and falling in love once again.

Every once in a while I make a meal that I know my great grandma would really be proud of. Even though she's gone, I still try to make her proud. I just wish I could make bread the way she did!