I learned a lot of what I know about food as a result of being in the kitchen with my mom when I was little.
Although my mom didn't formally work until I was at least 10 years old, one of the things she did do was have an informal catering business for local "people of note" when they had parties with "important" guests.
Naturally, she saw me as free kitchen labor and so I learned to peel potatoes and scrub carrots and chop things and grate cheese at a very early age.
Looking back on those days from about 50 years down the road, one way in which I have have come to differ considerably from my mom is in not following the ostensible "rules" that seem to govern much of the cooking world.
Under this particular heading, one of the things I developed skill for over the years is putting together something quite edible out of relatively random leftover bits and pieces.
One of the exclamations I have very often heard people say to me is "ewwww, those things don't go together!"
Wanna bet?
I suppose part of my penchant for putting things together that seem unlikely comes from the fact that I have spent an awful lot of my life eating leftovers. Living on leftovers. Money was always tight, so nothing could go to waste. And sometimes there would be some really odd stuff sitting in the "reduced for quick sale" bin the supermarket so that would come home even if it seemed a little dodgy.
I should add here that I do love food!
Food, to me, is far more than just "filler that will make a turd." Eating has also never been something that I would "forget," either. Frankly, I have never been able to fathom people who will say "oh, I forgot to eat" or parents who had to admonish their children "don't forget to eat!" I'm no more likely to forget to eat than I am to forget to breathe!
I just want to ask "doesn't your STOMACH tell you that you need to eat?"
Fortunately, I also happen to love garlic! You can overshadow a million sins with the addition of a hefty amount of garlic...
Growing up in Denmark — among other things, famous for its tradition of elaborate open-faced sandwiches — I was also very attuned to the idea of courses, from a very young age. It helped me understand that you can turn many small things into a meal.
Stated a little differently, dinner doesn't have to be all the same thing.
This evening — Mrs. Denmarkguy is out of town at the moment — I had quite an enjoyable dinner of six different "tiny amounts" of leftovers that had absolutely nothing to do with each other.
I know that in many households these remnants would simply have been thrown out.
We waste an almost obscene amount of food, here in the USA.
I think being raised in the tradition of growing our own food also helped me gain a greater appreciation for the fact that it takes work to create food... and thus I have less of an inclination to want to throw it away.
Beyond all this, though, part of the point of these words was to convey the idea that sampling a lot of different small things and calling it "a meal" is really enjoyable, and perhaps one of the things I enjoy most about the occasions when I find myself "home alone."
Thanks for stopping by, and have a great remainder of your week!
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Created at 2025.04.10 00:08 PDT
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