Food for Thought

As a rebellious child and teenager, I found mandatory family dinners to be a constant source of irritation. At the time, school, athletics and my social life all trumped sitting down and eating a home-cooked meal every night at 6 p.m.

Looking back now, however, I truly appreciate my mother’s strictness about the dinner-time ritual. Eating nutritious and homemade meals instilled in my three siblings and me not only the value of eating well, but also the importance of family time.

My love of food and cooking today can be largely attributed to those meals. Being exposed to a diverse array of healthy cuisines as a child has had a significant effect on my life.

While I used to complain about having the only mom on the block who did not allow the television to be on during meals, I now realize the importance of catching up with loved ones at the end of day.

Though our dinners were a far cry from anything depicted in a Norman Rockwell painting, many of my clearest and fondest childhood memories were made around the kitchen table as we told anecdotes from our day.

Mealtime is a bonding activity and central to many of my family’s traditions. I cannot imagine the holiday season or birthdays without my mother’s multiple courses, which never fail to leave the waistband of my pants stretched to its maximum capacity.

The fact that I used to complain about the cuisines and recipes my mother prepared, such as Thai food and mashed cauliflower instead of potatoes, shocks me. 

Her obsession with gourmet cooking and Martha Stewart is now one of the things I adore most about her. In addition, I relish every opportunity I have to be adventurous in the kitchen and to try new dishes.

My mother’s “food snob” attitude about the importance of preparing meals from fresh ingredients is also something I have begun to emulate. Prepackaged convenience foods such as chicken nuggets and lasagna were never in my freezer as I grew up and are not foods I enjoy eating now.

Despite no longer living under my mother’s rules, I still make an effort to sit down and eat at least one meal a day with no distractions, aside from my friends’ conversation. In fact, when asked what I love most about being in a sorority, my response is almost always that I get to come home and eat dinner with more than 80 of my friends. 

Although it is not yet the second Sunday in May, I would like to express my
gratitude to my Mom.

Thank you for forcing me to miss out on neighborhood games of kickball, sitcom reruns, study sessions and the beginning of football game tailgates. I would not be the person and cook I am today without you.

­— hsspence@indiana.edu