At the moment, monetarily speaking, my family is poor. Not so poor that we don’t have anything to eat but poor enough to see that we can barely put food on the table and cover our bills. This is not to say that we aren’t blessed. I was making dinner a few nights ago and I was struck about how good my family eats even when we have no money. This is not a rant on how privileged we in “first world” countries are. I had time to contemplate how a person can take a few simple ingredients and create a filling and flavorful meal.
All I had was potatoes, chicken broth, milk, hard boiled eggs, onions, celery, pepper, salt, butter, and bacon. These food items are in-expensive in and of themselves, but when lovingly and properly prepared create a meal that fills, warms, and nourishes. Potato soup is an old family favorite, Katie’s family never had it, or if they did it was from a can. I was able to begin making this soup 3 hours before we ate, Olivia was taking a nap, and I put on some quite worship music as I began. I chopped a whole onion, carefully so that each piece was the same size. That went into a pot with butter to caramelize into a brown, sweet note of dignity. I then carefully chopped my celery, again paying close attention to the size, and added them to the onions with a pinch of salt to draw out moisture. Potatoes were next, with a brief soak in broth, and then followed eggs. By that time the bacon was out from the broiler and I spooned some of the bacon grease into the pot (adding flavor wherever possible), and I chopped 4 strips into the soup. This pot then simmered away for 2 hours until Katie got home.
This meal while relatively poor in expense warmed Katie, Olivia, and I to our core. This food while plain is nourishing to the soul, its comfort food. For me it is the food that Christ prepares for us as we are in relationship with him. It warms us, and enables us to interact with the sometimes cold outside world. These are the thoughts that go through my mind when I cook. The thoughts that make preparing food for my family worth more than a large paycheck.
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