Having recently celebrated Mother’s day I can not think of a better time to get this engine rolling. It has been a long time in the making and, I am both excited and pensive about this blogging journey.

This past mother’s day was the first one I have been home with my kids — now ages 15, 18 and 21. It seems over the years the more freedoms and privileges women are afforded, the more holidays are fleeting and spent in restaurants. Moms have less time and do everything possible to retain the connection with their kids and families. Hours toiling over handmade ravioli is often replaced with the ease of opening a bag or box from the local grocery store. I have been there myself, making the choice the use a shortcut in order to have “quality time” with my children — or, lets face it, to have 10 minutes of time to deprogram.

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To what end? Are the memories and meals creating an experience? Or have we come to a time when it does not matter? Is society redefining sustenance?

We have become the smoothie generation. We are counting calories, giving up gluten, meat, sugar, and adding a host of other dietary restrictions further fueled by less time to spend at a table enjoying a conversation around a shared plate. Meals are being consumed through a straw or wrapped in paper and eaten standing up or on the way from point A to point B.

Do not misunderstand; I am not condemning; I am guilty myself. As a Chef I worked 10 to 15 hour shifts while raising my kids. At the market I prayed no one I knew would see that I was purchasing boxes of macaroni and cheese or precooked chickens!

A couple of years ago, it hit me that my children grew up without a Grandmother around. My Mother died when my kids were very young and they never had the benefit of a constant “Grandmother” figure. My husband’s family lives quite a distance and while there are visits, it is nothing like the large extended matriarchal family of my youth! I wondered how that would effect them… I can not Imagine my life without my Nana. But, there we were in the midst of it, and I was certain my children would suffer for all my time spent working.

When my oldest son left for school, he asked me for a recipe book… of my recipes. I must have done something right! In between the fast food and deli rotisserie chicken meals, there was still time at the table. Each night I made every effort to bring my family together around the table. We ate, we talked, we lived in that moment. We shared one of the the most basic of human moments… nourishment.

Food memories are interesting in that we tend to recall the very best moments and cling to them. No matter what our version of the best might be. We search for humor in the worst and tend to abandon those that are less than impressive. There are many families who are food insecure… my family has been there before as well. But there are moments…. the ones that bring us to a table… that nourish us no matter the actual meal we provide. Is it in the sharing of those moments that achieve the greatest benefit? Those are the memories to which we cling. While the recipes often write themselves based on the pantry you are afforded, the secret is in the sharing… time in the kitchen, time at the table, time in which we literally are sharing the most basic of human needs.

The amount or kind of food on the table is often irrelevant, the answer lies in the basic act of sharing a similar meal.  An article published online by The Journal of Consumer Psychology uses several studies to draw a direct correlation between the sharing of similar food and the building of trust and conflict resolution. The Nanas of the past, even during the Great Depression, understood this without scientific documentation.

  So what was the first lesson in the handwritten cookbook I gave to my son? “Never go to bed full when there is anyone around you that is hungry.” That is perhaps the Meemaw-est statement one could make. But, it is the way we can bring the “Golden Thread” into our own busy lives, whether you are eating filet mignon or a pack of cheese crackers.

The second most important lesson I wrote in my Son’s recipe book? “How to church up boxed Mac N cheese!” The lesson here? Be thankful for what you do have. That makes it easier to share.