I Am A "Joy Warrior" And FOOD Is My Weapon

Yesterday's "blog nudge" for Blogging Along With Effy Wild is:

”What do you do to foster joy?

What’s your version of ‘flinging glitter in the trenches?”

In her post Effy gives Klinger from the TV series "MASH" the title of JOY Warrior and writes about how he "Flings glitter in the trenches"  

(Read her full post HERE)

I . LOVE . THIS

Probably because I think I am a JOY Warrior too and my weapon is FOOD!

When the going gets tough - I Cook

When the world is in Crisis - I Bake

 

When my life is falling down around my ears - I throw dinner parties

It was my hubby who put this into words when one day, as I was having yet another wee tug of war with my adult child (insert power struggle here) over meal planning this time, he said;

"Oh let your mother feed you, it's how she shows her love." 

And right at that moment lights went off in my heart and head as all the wires connected and I realized that is EXACTLY what I do!

  I Show My Love Through Food

And when we moved to the country (define country as a 4-acre piece of land with a septic tank and a water well, over an hour's drive from any major shopping), and I discovered I could GROW the food I used to show my love, 

 

and the itty bitty genes I inherited from my French Canadian farm roots exploded Hulk-like and took me over - I wanted to FEED THE WORLD!

 

Years ago I came across a passage from the book I was reading called  A Vision of Light, by Judith Merkle Riley:

“It is impossible to deny a woman in a feeding mood. It is as if they look right through you, to that small, weak part that has been there since you were a baby and that doesn’t know how to defy authority.”

and this has stayed with me because I completely understand it.  Nothing makes me happier than the expression of surprised delight on some one's face as they taste something wonderful made by me.  And it always plays out the same way...

 

They tentatively take a bite and as the flavours flood their mouth, their eyes get wider, their eyebrows go up and that sound emerges...

"mmmmm"...

"MMMMM"...

and then "Oh My God - This is Good!"

They take a second bite to be sure and then they Always Say:

"This is REALLY, REALLY Good!" 

And the final bit that always makes my heart spill over with joy... when all conversation stops and there are only the sounds of eating because it TASTES SO GOOD!

Even writing about it brings me Joy... Happy Sigh.

  

I show my LOVE through Food

You know,  I have never before written about this part of me.  I have tried to explain it to people who find meal making a chore and who cannot understand how I could spend 12 hours in a kitchen - on purpose - or WHY I would even want to?!?  But seriously there are only a few things that can bring me more joy than THIS:

A heartfelt smile from a grandchild

When I look at a piece of Art I made and think "yes, this is good"

The look in my partner's eyes when I realize that he stills sees me how I looked when we first met...

 It's really is the little things that make life big...

Happy Sigh

I am Blogging Along With Effy this month... Find out How and Why HERE and come join us!