A Friday Chat ( about this & that )

I can't cook for 2 people.
I try - I really do - but I just can't do it.
And personally it doesn't bother me at all.
I freeze the left over portions - or plan a meal around left overs - or Soda gets it ( I don't feed Soda dog food but that's a story for another day - I actually cook her meals alongside ours )

BUT overcooking - more often then not - means overeating.

I come from a an era where food was heaped on plates - where second helpings were not only encouraged but insisted upon..............( still to this day 1 pork chop on a plate looks like the saddest thing to me )
We ate until we were about to burst AND we did it quite gleefully.

It was a sign of " making it " in the North America of the 60's.
Our parents were of the war years generation - where food was NOT plentiful - where standing in line with food stamps was the norm - where memories of going to bed hungry still lingered somewhere in the back of their minds - and  mountains of food on a table meant they'd risen above it - that they were finally in a " safe "
place.

I don't think Europeans rose above it in the same way - they must have found other, healthier ways to
" make it "
We once had a Mill owner come from France on business and they came by our home before we went out -
Upon seeing the oversized fridge in the kitchen they were astonished -
They opened it and gasped.
Literally gasped at the contents inside.

" why so much food? " they asked

I couldn't even answer the question

Why so much food?  Well because it's there
And the fridge is large
And it must always be FULL FULL FULL

Like our stomachs...............

They then asked why everything was so large in North America  ( they didn't say why was every " one " so large because that would just be out and out rude - but surely they must have been thinking of it.

BUT - everything IS large here.  I remember thinking what it must have looked like through their eyes.
Cars that looked like boats
Homes large enough to accommodate 20 people - with 4 people living in them
Back yards that could host gala events
Shopping centers that go on for miles
Grocery stores that are the size of football fields

And I'm still sitting here today wondering why?
I know we've gotten better -
Cars are smaller and that's a beginning at the very least...................apparently the younger generation are looking at smaller footprints when buying homes and that's saying a lot considering most of them grew up surrounded by too much space.

BUT there's still that little problem with the food.
I look in the fridge - and sometimes even I can almost gasp.
It's too much -
( she writes as a pot of spaghetti sauce is cooking downstairs - large enough to feed 20 people )
Of course I'll freeze batches of it - but why make so much in the first place?
And why on earth does it feel so good to me to know it'll be in there when I need it?
I was not a part of the war years.....................just a product of parents who were.
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AND since we're on the subject of food ....................
The days of yore  ( my childhood ) were not filled with fast food - they were non existent in my world -
Fast food was a bologna sandwich - or a bowl of cereal.  Period.
Add the above mentioned mentality to the world of fast food and it's game over.
Take a visit to Europe -
Especially Paris -
Where people are eating tons of bread - and butter and desserts - and take a long look around.
The city is overwhelmingly filled with very slim people.
BECAUSE they move................they walk - they climb stairs - the carry groceries ( not dump them in a cart and throw them in the trunk ) which is DO-ABLE because they don't buy so much blasted food !!!
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AND since we're on the subject of fast food
(see how all of this has a domino effect in my thought process? )
While everyone is complaining about it - and some have even threatened to sue because of obesity - I have a simple solution.
Stay away from them.
Isn't it up to us, as parents, to keep our children out of them?
I know we can't do it forever - but by God, we can do it during their childhood, can't we?
Are we such an incredibly stupid pack of people that we have to sue because we didn't know that allowing our children to eat fast food at an alarming rate would cause weight gain?
Especially when we're too terrified to let them out of our sight and so most of this generation does NOT go outside after meals to play with friends.
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Which brings me back to this..................

I love food.
I love everything about it -
Buying it
Preparing it.
Cooking it.
Presenting it.
but mostly I just love eating it.

I can't cook for 2 people........................
I try - I really do - but I just can't do it.

Oh and here's a sneak peak of the vanity - just a little tweaking left to do on it.
( I feel so vain offering sneak peaks - who do I think I am?  I'm just a Suzan, after all )
That's me praying that it turned out ok

This week's chat ends on a sad not -  my deepest condolences go out to Pamela from
Playing With My Camera who lost her brother last week.
They were close and now she must learn to live without him in her life................the highest price we pay to know love is to grieve over it's loss from our everyday lives.
May he Rest In Peace.
and may you, Pamela, find peace in your memories.

Have a wonderful day everyone -
And an even more wonderful weekend.
Much love,
Me
( think I'll bake a cake )