My Kitchen is My Zen Garden

I love being in my kitchen.  I have never been artistically gifted, but what comes out of my kitchen is almost always a creation of some sort.  I am quite possibly the only housewife who gets excited about Williams Sonoma catalogues and recipe books.  Shawn knows that the way to my heart is not with roses, but with a bouquet of utensils or a new kitchen appliance.  And I know the way to his heart is with something freshly baked, using those new utensils or appliances!


My kitchen is sacred to me.  It's my own personal space where I can work out aggression or frustration with some bread dough, make a meal that will give someone a much needed break, create comfort food for the center, or just make something fun to pass around to the kids we know.  My kitchen is my safe place.

That's why today's phone call truly made my day.  I recently made lasagna and some of my rosemary bread, along with Rice Krispie treat pumpkins, for a friend and her three sons.  It sat in the fridge of another mutual friend while her two boys drooled over it the past two days, until they could deliver it to our friend. They all sat down together to the meal tonight and called me in the middle of it.

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to keep eating this while I thank you because it's too good to put my fork down for that long!"  That made me laugh.  Then she held the phone out so all seven of them could thank me at once.  That made me cry.


I don't do this for thanks or recognition.  I do it because it's something I love to do.  I do it because just for tonight, two families didn't have to worry about what was dinner and have to put it together.  Just for tonight, all they had to do was sit down and enjoy themselves.