Ok now modern women everywhere—before you go getting your panties in a twist and limbering up your fingers to type out a scathing reply to my seemingly anti-feminist blog entry---why don’t you just take a step back and breathe. Better? Allow me to define who we are, and why we need to reclaim our place in the kitchen. I’m not just talking about women—but you’re not off the hook ladies, I am most definitely talking to you. But in a broader sense, we are the creative, the young professionals, the singles, the nostalgic who yearn after food “like mom used to make,” the financially challenged, the economically minded. We are those who want to create a homier and healthier home, and those who just love witnessing the miracle of non-palatable ingredients coming together to form culinary delights to tempt our tongues and noses. We want to do things for ourselves, and want to take responsibility for what goes in our bodies, and so I urge us to get back in the kitchen.
Naturally, as a young professional woman in her mid-20’s, most of my experience will speak to that same demographic, but young, old, male, female, red, yellow, black or white, we all need to eat, and I propose that we all learn how to feed our own dang selves!
Why, you ask? Well, here’s a reason that will resonate with anyone living in our current economy: it’s cheaper! Even if you buy local and/or organic (which I highly recommend---more on that in the future,) it is less expensive than compulsively eating out. Believe me, with student loans from two institutions of higher learning and low-paying jobs, I know how to stretch a buck. I will allow that setting up a well-stocked pantry can initially stretch the wallet, but it begins to pay off as soon as you start cooking with those ingredients. AND, as skills increase, one can learn the art of substitution—trading more expensive ingredients in a recipe for less expensive or seasonal ones.
Now, I’m sure the devil’s advocates among you will say that eating out at Wendy’s or McDonalds is definitely cheaper than cooking in. Ok, that may be so on a basic monetary level, but exactly what kind of compromises are you making for the “cheaper” food? Two fantastic books have recently crossed my literary path, and I highly recommend them to anyone who loves food and wants to learn about where it comes from. Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal Vegetable Miracle. In her book, Kingsolver has this to say about fast food:
Nobody should need science to prove the obvious, but plenty of studies do show that regularly eating cheaply produced fast food and processed snack foods slaps on extra pounds that increase the risks of diabetes, cardiovascular harm, joint problems, and many cancers. As a country we’re officially over the top: the majority of our food dollars buy those cheap calories, and most of our citizens are medically compromised by weight and inactivity. The incidence of obesity-associated diabetes has more than doubled since 1990, with children the fastest-growing class of victims.
If taking care of your health doesn’t convince you, (and it should,) here’s another great reason to get back in the kitchen: it connects people! Some of my best memories are of preparing and/or sharing meals with friends and family. It is an act of friendship and a loving service to cook or bake for someone, and it’s a great way to show off your skillz! Cooking conveys thoughtfulness and meets two basic human needs: to eat/be fed, and to care/be cared for. It’s the backbone of the lost art of hospitality—something we have let fall by the wayside in American culture.
Finally, I must confess that one of my motivations for feeding myself is the pride I feel in accomplishing something functional and creative. When you pull bubbly fragrant lasagna out of the oven, you can have the satisfaction of thinking, (or proclaiming aloud to your cat,) HECK YES! I made that! It almost makes you want to pull a Ron Burgundy and demand, “Hey everybody! Come see how good this looks!”
So ladies, dudes, all transient twenty-somethings looking to carve out some sort of “home” in our small city dwellings—everybody—don your aprons, invite over some friends, reclaim your place in the kitchen, and learn how to feed yourselves!
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