Thankful Thursdays ~ A Smile On My Face

On this Thankful Thursday I am reflecting on all the times Winters and I are cooking it up in the kitchen, which makes me so grateful I married a man who can cook.

I also love that we have wonderful cooking utensils to create great meals.  Winters would say it is a must for any wanna be chef to have the best knives, blenders, and other gizmos. I have a few special cooking utensils that, when I pull them out of a draw, they always put a smile on my face. Not because they are so spectacular, but that they hold so many memories.

Winters has many talents and one thing I love about him most is old Winters LOVES to cook. Every time he is in the kitchen he cooks up something special. Years ago as a young reporter he worked in a French-Creole restaurant in Augusta, Georgia to help make ends meet.  I am sure this is where  he learned so many tricks of the trade.  When I am telling you this guy can cook I mean this guy can cook.

Oops, did I say he was a cook, I meant to say he is chef.

But let me be perfectly honest, when I met Winters I thought to myself, he’s smart, great looking and he can cooks. Hello!

But believe it or not this post isn’t really about Winters, but rather about the experiences we have in the kitchen.  As we wrote in Winters’ latest book, “The Little Black Dress And The SONS Of Thunder~Recipes on Life and Food, in our opinion one of the most important rooms in your house is the kitchen.  Many wonderful memories take place there.  I am always telling the SONS to savor their food and enjoy.  Yes, enjoy it and celebrate the meal with each other.  It may sound a bit pollyannish, but that is what almost every culture around the world does but ours.  We also try very hard to take a dance around the kitchen every so often.  It is good for everyone even the chef!

In the kitchen, Winters cleans as he goes.  It is hard to know that he was ever in there except for the fact that you have a smile on your face and your belly is popping out from eating too much.

Now when I’m in the kitchen, picture Lucille Ball, the chef on Sesame Street,  my mom and just enough of Julia Childs or Martha Stewart to throw together a great meal. The operative word here is throw.

But here is the bottom line:  It may look like pandemonium in the kitchen when I get finished, but the end result from my creation is just that – a creation!

Yes, I am trying to be modest, but a am a pretty darn good cook!  Most of my recipes have the word healthy in them, but that does not mean healthy can’t be delicious too.

Winters and I have had a few friendly feuds over who created what dishes and who is responsible for what recipe, but in the end who cares? All that matters is if the food is fabulous!

However, the pork chop recipe is mine, all mine!

Winters has been known to say that The LBD does the whole entertaining thing and he is the chef, but don’t let him fool you. I am in that kitchen with Winters and I must say it is one of my favorite places to be, right alongside of him.  Whenever I cook without him it just doesn’t seem right.

So when my Mom and Dad went into the nursing home we had to go through all their stuff and decide what to keep and let go of.  Winters was ready to let it all go, but if you have read my posts you already know that. I mean he really was shocked when the movers drove away with my parents’ “things” in an 18-foot UHaul, especially when his favorite line was “Let it go, Let it all go”

So here we are back in the present in our kitchen in Newnan, Georgia, and I am stride for stride with Winters.  He needs a spoon, a measuring cup and a strainer.  Fear Not! I have them all.  One is old and tattered, one is still shiny and new, the other just the perfect size.  These are not necessarily perfect, but they are perfect to me. Not all chef’s would love them, but we do for they are not just any ordinary utensils.

I had held these things  in my hands a million times when growing up. Now I hold them as a women and my children hold them just like I did.  Each of these cooking utensils were seasoned with love, food, memories and time. Some of them even belonged to my grandmothers. Who would have thought that a simple measuring cup could make someone so happy and put a smile on their face each time they held it in their hands and used it.  The simplest things can ground us and remind us of our past as well as our future.

On this Thankful Thursday I am reminded of the many, many things I saved from sweet parents’ house.  Some of the things I knew I would be thrilled I kept, but I never could have imagined how somethings so little, something so seemingly insignificant, could have left such a strong impression on my life.

Each time I use something from my mother’s kitchen I smile. Yes, it is sometimes the simple things in life that make us smile and even change our life forever. Yet, it could be so easily overlooked .  The simple can become extraordinary gifts that leave a lasting impression on us and even others.  I will never forget keeping up stride for stride with my mom in her kitchen holding those very measuring cups and a variety of other kitchen gadgets.

So now it is my turn to create memories as I get to keep up with Winters, stride for stride while we create with those same cooking utensils.  One thing I know for certain is that Winters is thrilled we hung on to the kitchen gadgets and didn’t let them go!

Time passes and memories fade, but a heart touched by love is a heart that is changed forever.

So on this thankful Thursday I pray that God fills your life, your home and your kitchen with memories that will last a lifetime or even longer as well as put a big smile on your face!

Be blessed and encouraged abundantly today as we remember that even the simplest things in life can be the most precious and unforgettable, whether it be cooking it up in the kitchen with someone you love or simply using a spoon full of memories of a dearly loved one.