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Meals and Meal Planning

© Mari Brodersen

Imagine this scenario: A clean and organized kitchen, everything in its place, sink and appliances sparkling. A pot of homemade soup whets tastebuds as it simmers gently on the stove, while a loaf of homemade whole wheat bread bakes in the oven and wafts lovely odors through the house.

The table is lovingly and beautifully set, complete with place mats and matching cloth napkins. A decorative cornucopia spills forth lovely fall flowers, and autumn-colored candles shed light and fragrance.

Wake up! It's only a dream! Yes, my kitchen looks great - clean, shiny, organized, and sparkley. And, yes, I set a beautiful table - even when I'm the only one eating. In fact, I enjoy arranging a lovely environment for dining.

But, if I were cooking the above mentioned meal, you wouldn't smell anything more delightful than something burning. The simmering soup would boil over onto the burners, creating a funky burning smell. And the fire alarm would scream obnoxiously as the homemade bread blackened in the oven. Yes, this has happened to me in real life!

So what am I doing here, writing about meals and meal planning? Well, at some point, I'm going to have to learn to cook if I'm going to survive. Perhaps writing about it is as good a place as any to start.

EARLY LESSONS

When I was about five years old, I loved watching my grandmother bake. But I especially loved "helping" her decorate cakes. That was probably my first introduction to cooking. To this day, I like to bake - though it rarely turns out well.

As I got older, my parents expected me to help in the kitchen. Imagine their chagrin as everything I was supposed to cook ended up burned! But I did learn a few helpful hints about cooking:
1) Clean as you go. Then you won't have a giant mess to clean up afterwards.
2) If you get flour on your clothes, brush it off with a clean, dry dish towel. This really works!
3) Prepare as much beforehand as you can.
And that's the extent of my practical knowledge of cooking.

As a teenager, I almost gave my parents heart failure when I announced that I wanted to have a dinner party for some of my friends. They encouraged what they thought was a new-found interest in cooking. Actually, it had more to do with the fact that I wanted to set a beautiful, formal table to impress my friends. I cooked the dinner and made the dessert (though I don't remember what I cooked) with a lot of guidance from my proud parents. And my friends were impressed. That was decades ago, and it's the last edible meal that I cooked.