My Food Story : Letters from Cooking with Mother

Dear Reader ,

Today while rummaging through my bookshelf , i came across this cook book which dates back to 1996 - a year , when i was 12 years old and my mom had gifted me my 1st ever cook book . A bright yellow hardcover then - '' Cooking with Mother '' by Lynne Peebles is a Ladybird publishing and printed in England . It was an expensive book at that time , since it had made it's way in original format , all the way from overseas into this cozy little bookshop in my hometown . The innumerable not so perfect experiments and little life learning's what followed , is what made this book so special to me , both then and now .

Cooking with Mother simply lists out the basic rules of cooking and has , in some way been the foundation of all that I am today - life tips like always wash hands and wear an apron , always read the recipe right through so that you know exactly what you are doing , always be safe and aware of each step while handling fire or an oven etc have stuck to me like glue . It has also made a lot of room for my imagination - where tomatoes and boiled eggs were made to look like red - button mushrooms and a round bright orange , sometimes manifested itself into a cheesy pineapple hedge hog , with the mere use of toothpicks ! Cooking with Mother taught me to follow my heart , my passion and my individual imagination with full gungo and make them , into forms of food for the soul .

Coming to speak about passions , my Mom is very passionate about reading and she most tactfully , got this virtue ingrained into us sisters since childhood . I don't mean to sound outdated , but all of us in the family love the look and feel of a hard cover book and loathe reading out of the digital kindle world (!) Also , as kids , i remember , a visit to the local bookstore was as exciting as a visit to any other toy store , where we spent hours together , selecting our own books . Later , at billing , these choices were debated to fit the final shortlisted list with the weekly book budget and then finalized . After we were born , Mum also did give up her job to be with us but i realized , she never gave up on her own passion or whatever else she loved doing for her self defined ' me- time ' . Now as an adult , when i look back on this , i realize how much this perspective can mean to all young people out there.

So yes , passion's and growing up memories are heartfelt and that is what keeps us and them going fresh for a lifetime . I loved cooking with mother - i did so 24 years back and even now that is what , keeps me going every single day . My mother is the one who gave me all my 1st's and i am sure your's did the same unto you too , so definitely don't miss to celebrate and cherish that every single day of your life . At the end of the day , that is what makes you you !

Emotionally Your's

The Hungry Boy

P.S : Never lick your fingers when you are cooking !