On Books and Food

I have always loved books. I have vague recollections from early childhood of being read to and never wanting it to stop. I recall taking books in my hands and pretending to read them, speaking the story aloud, as best I could, from memory. The first book I remember reading on my own was a popup version of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. I believe I was four years old at the time. I have been hooked on reading ever since.

I didn’t come to a real appreciation of good food until rather late in life. My mother was not a very good or imaginative cook. She prepared food in the most basic English style: all vegetables were boiled to near mush, all meat was roasted to well done or beyond, and everything was seasoned with lots of salt. I realize now, looking back on how things were for us then, that she must have done the best she could, preparing food as her food had been prepared for her, and trying to feed her family on what was a very limited budget. She did, however, cook a mean turkey dinner every Christmas.

We didn’t eat out much growing up either (again, I believe this was due to our economic circumstances), and when we did it was usually a burger joint or a fish and chip place. For our family a trip to the Ponderosa was the height of fine dining, and this only happened every few years.

Things didn’t change much as I got older. Though my economic circumstances improved and my grocery budget got bigger once I was out on my own, married, and raising a family the menu at home was much the same, although somewhat better prepared. My wife and I had come from very similar backgrounds and culinary exposure. Though we both cooked we cooked the meals that we were raised on. When we ate out, we went to the places we were familiar with.

I was in my late forties, divorced, my kids pretty much raised, and living on my own before I discovered how wonderful food could really be. It started out simply enough. Now that I was preparing all my meals by myself and only for myself I decided I wanted to try something different. I picked up a couple of cookbooks for fifty cents a piece from my local library’s sale bin, decided on a recipe, picked up the necessary ingredients and the required cookware, and began to cook.

It wasn’t easy. I didn’t know my way around a kitchen very well and didn’t understand many of the terms and directions in the recipe, yet I somehow managed to prepare a chicken breast in white wine sauce with capers, orange glazed carrots, and grilled asparagus that was not only passable but actually, at least to my unsophisticated palate, quite good. It was the first time I had ever tasted a caper and I was blown away.

I tried other recipes after this, with varying degrees of success, but everything I prepared lead me to the same conclusion, food could be amazing, and I loved it.

After several months of staying in ( I did get a lot of reading done during this time) and cooking for myself every night I decided I was tired of being alone. I wanted to get out and start dating. Problem was I hadn’t really dated in years and I had very little experience with good restaurants and fine dining. When had I last eaten somewhere that required a reservation? I could not remember.

Anyway, with the help of a dating website I was able to set up a couple of dates, and with advice from friends found a couple of nice restaurants to take these dates to. Though none of these early dates turned out to be Ms. Right I did experience some fabulous meals, and I discovered the joys of dining out.

Some months later I did meet my current wife, Kim, through a dating site. After a few weeks of messaging back and forth we went out to dinner. By this time I could find my way around a menu but wine pairing was still a bit of a mystery to me. Fortunately this was not an issue for my future wife – who, as it turns out, is an amazing chef, a foodie, and food blogger – who choose the wine for us. A year later we were married.

Though not the book lover I am she does like to read, she knows food, enjoys eating out, and loves to travel. With her as my eating and travel guide I have, over the last six years, experienced food and life at a level that before now I never knew existed. Can’t wait to see what lies ahead.

For now I must run as Kim is just taking a homemade chicken pot pie out of the oven and I have to go pour the pinot grigio.

Cheers!

Stephen