Food For Thought

I believe in food. I believe that food always brings people together, whether it’s a holiday, happy or sad event, food is always there. Food helps us live and grow, why not make it delicious and fancy also. No matter what the food tastes or looks like, if there is food in any location, it always brings fellowship.

Holidays are where most of the food fellowship takes place. I have many fond memories of holidays when I was a child. My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. In past Thanksgivings, my grandparents were there with all of my cousins and we would gather around the huge table (most of the time it was two tables pushed together) and eat tons and tons of food until we were so full that we were lying all over the floor. We filled up on two gigantic turkeys that my grandfather roasted, mashed potatoes, sautéed, grilled, and baked vegetables, cranberry sauce that my grandfather made from scratch and all sorts of other food all around the table. My grandmother would get a big, red, plastic bowl and fill it with peanuts, M&Ms, peanut M&Ms, Indian burnt peanuts, raisins, yogurt and chocolate covered raisins, and most importantly, Candy Corn…tons of delicious Candy Corn. She had the tradition of putting small paper cups next to each table setting and filling it with the candy. All of the children would munch on the cups of candy and trading with everyone else for more of the candy that we liked.

During the meal, we would all sit around the table to eat and my uncles would start telling jokes and stories of the old times, making everyone at the table laugh so hard it would hurt. The dog would be running around under the table trying to catch any food that may drop. My seat was usually next to my grandpa where I could hear some of the fun stories he has with my grandma. We would eat until we could eat no more. But then, there were about five different pies to consume. My aunt would make most of them and bring them with her from out of town. She made the best berry pies, pumpkin and her famous buttermilk pie. It may sound strange, but it is absolutely delicious. Then we would all gather into the family room, draw the shades and get comfortable on the floor to watch A Christmas Carol with Alistair Sim, which is a classic, with thoughts of the delicious food and fun fellowship we just experienced.

I have many memories of my family together on this wonderful holiday and I can only hope to spread the same joy to my family as my grandparents did for me. The events where we had food helped us to have meaningful, fun conversations and share many memories. We just need to remember; where there is food, there is fellowship. So, eat drink and be merry!