Celebrating through Cooking

Apart from Thanksgiving and Christmas most special occasions are celebrated by a night of eating out.

Birthdays, anniversaries, even the start of a new weekend are most often marked by a dinner in a restaurant.

I suppose it makes sense. Most would prefer having someone else do the cooking on a day of celebration. And perhaps this stems from the idea that cooking at home either means a regular hum drum weekday meal or a multi-course holiday feast that requires the cook to "slave away" all day long.

But to me, cooking itself is a celebration, a sign of love. What says "Happy Birthday", or "I love you" more than spending time creating something specifically for other people to enjoy.

Growing up, birthdays were rarely spent in a restaurant. Instead my family let the birthday girl or boy choose whatever food they would like to have prepared for everyone.

For example, my brother's birthday was always spent eating Beef Strogonoff, and it wasn't my dad's birthday until a German Chocolate Cake appeared. And the time we spent cooking these dishes together is what made them special. So in that respect, I've always felt any boring evening can easily be changed into something special, if the night is spent cooking together with family or friends.

In college my roommates and I changed a number of typical Tuesdays into what we called our "roommate feasts." Each of us would make one of our own recipes side by side in our tiny kitchen to share with each other. Perhaps this behavior showed we weren't exactly typical college kids, but our love of cooking always attracted a crowd of friends.

And that is why I've always loved my time in the kitchen. Cooking brings people together, and makes any night a little more special. So next time you have a night to celebrate, think about celebrating through cooking. You may just find as much joy in the kitchen as I do.