To eat or not to eat

There are those that enjoy food.  Look forward to going to great new restaurants.  Savor delicious delicacies.  Talk about the next meal.  Some food people go to the next level. Looking forward to the next food magazine coming in the mail.  Buy new cookbooks and read each recipe.  That person would be me. 

Good food has always been important.  My mother is an excellent cook.  My grandmother was a great baker.  Not to pass judgment here, but Jews in general, like food.  Vacations, family outings, holidays, etc. are all centered around the meal. 

This accounts for the constant discussion of food.  The constant diet.  To me, it is just a fact of life.

Fred, who is now a true foodie, grew up in a house where food, to him, was more a source of nutrition.  After all, you can’t survive without food and water.  The meal was just something you had to do. 

When 2 worlds collide, it is funny what type of habits or interests you take on from your significant other. 

As we were having dinner last night, we were talking about the post-winter plump. Fred turned to me and said "I didn’t eat until I met you".  It just made me laugh out loud.

Comments (Archived):

  1. erin

    being a “gentile”, (i use quotes, because i now understand that this term can carry a negative connotation according to wikipedia. i simply mean non-jew), and having many jewish friends, your blog made me smile. it was not until i attended my first jewish wedding, that i really got the whole food thing. at these weddings (we attended many), food was the measuring stick for a successful event.

    the dessert offering is what blew my mind the most. the wedding cake was fabulous (peanut butter and banana), but it was just one of many sweet things offered. the separate dessert table overflowed with pastries, chocolates, cookies etc., and then there was a separate bananas foster station and chocolate fondue…i had never seen anything like it.

    but, i fit your “foodie” description…from a healthy standpoint. for me it’s all about creating amazing cuisine that is good for you.

  2. jonathan

    Your comment made me smile too. We consider teaching our kids how to eat to be one of our primary obligations as parents. I am reminded of when our oldest daughter, who is now 14, told us a couple years ago that we should send good olive oil to her in camp (other kids try to get their parents to send candy) because “the olive oil tasted like yellow water”. Yesterday she told us about her friend’s parents who served her pasta for dinner, along with a “sauce” that consisted of spray-on butter. I’ve never heard of such a thing. Our youngest (11) puts each and every thing she easts “through security” (her term…clearly she has been on too many airplanes) and is very picky but enjoys everything that passes her lips. Fortunately, I didn’t have to teach my wife how to “eat”. She came totally educated on that topic and in fact, has taught me a thing or two.