Simple foods

I have travelled a lot in my life. I was born in Texas, we moved to New York when I was three, moved to Illinois when I was nine, and moved to Ohio when I was twelve. That was all before college! I went to college in upstate New York for two years, travelled Canada for a year, then finished my degree before moving to Pennsylvania with my best friend. I met my beautiful wife, moved to New Hampshire with her, and finally ended up in North Carolina. Internationally other than my time in Canada, my dad took me to Italy for my Senior year of Highschool.

I say this because I have wrestled with my food of choice for this story. I have chosen a simple food. Not from lack of travelling, and not from lack of options. I have enjoyed hot chocolate in Rome, poutine in Ontario, and even enjoyed wild boar in Florence. But when none of these foods has had the greatest impact on me. The food that has changed my life the most is the humble oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. You see this humble cookie helped me win my wife’s heart.

I was working at a summer camp giving campers horse lessons. This rather attractive girl was part of my team. Like most young men I wanted to impress so I made cookies (with all the skill of a lifelong bachelor). I wish I could say I had a secret recipe or a special ingredient, but honestly I followed the recipe on the cookie pouch. One stick of butter, one egg, and the mix from the bag. My cookies were nothing special, but this girl loved my cookies. As it turned out, oatmeal chocolate chips are her favorite type of cookie. Now, anytime she needs a smile I can pick up something and make her day a little better. These cookies certainly aren’t exotic, but they are definitely the food that has impacted my life the most.

Another food that has changed the way I view food is the best ice cream I’ve ever had. While I was at college I had the opportunity to befriend a local farm family. On some of my days off I would go to their house and help out any way I could. I spent six weeks helping them harvest maple syrup. The jar of syrup they gave me I’m pretty sure came from heaven. I even helped them slaughter their cow, Joey. I had the opportunity to visit them a few years ago. As we were sitting around the living room talking, my new wife sitting next to me, asked me if I would like some ice cream. I have quite the sweet tooth, so of course I said yes. They made the most divine homemade raspberry ice cream. The raspberries were freshly picked from the yard. I’ve never had a bowl of ice cream like that.

Working for maple syrup and homemade ice cream really showed me the value of my work. It's a simple lesson but it’s an important lesson for us all to learn. It’s easy to lose sight of the value of a hard day’s work, or to think that the only value of a hard day's work is the money you earn at the end of the day. Life is so much more than the value of a bank account. Often the value of our lives is measured in anything other than money. The quality of our families, the way we impact others. That’s what these dishes have taught me. Making maple syrup was hard work. But at the end of the day it was worth it, not for the monetary value of the jar I was given but for the amazing taste I was able to share with others.