Jean Edelman’s Word of the Week: COOK

Cooking Helps Us Share Our Love and Always Brings a Smile To Our Family and Friends

Jean Edelman: Great to be with you this week. This week, the farmers markets are open. The vegetables are fresh and green and colorful. And so my word that I've been thinking about is COOK. 

Inspiration from my Irish and Italian Grandmothers in NYC

I grew up with both of my grandmothers cooking from scratch every meal that we ate together. My Irish grandmother, she had this little itty bitty kitchen with two burners, and she would cook for 40 people in her kitchen in Queens, New York. And my Italian grandmother, well, she would make everything from scratch - the pasta, the sauces, everything. And at that time in Brooklyn, New York, there were amazing stores where the butcher, everything was fresh and the vegetables and bread. It was a wonderful time and I have good memories. As my grandmothers taught me, cooking is a gesture of love. Think about it. The person cooking took the time to plan, to shop, to prepare, to cook, to serve, and to clean up. If we can show someone how to prepare a meal, that is the greatest gift I can remember when my cousin taught me how to make just a simple dish of French toast. And it was simple. But when you're young, learning how to crack eggs and milk and vanilla and stirring perfectly. But what stands out in my mind is that she took the time, and I've never forgotten that. Cooking is very intimate. We are sharing our likes and our dislikes, and when we practice making a dish, we want to make it so that we are making someone very happy. And that is a commitment. And that is wonderful. Cooking always brings a smile. We feel content when we have shared a meal with family and friends.

So my action item for this week is think about what is our relationship with food? Do we eat to live, or do we live to eat? Do we have favorite dishes and are there some recipes that we can hand down to those in our family? So this word of the week is going to be COOK. 

The C is for can do

We can happily take on challenges. Maybe there wasn't anyone in our life that could teach us to cook. But there's no reason now where we cannot change our food habits. We can go online. There's YouTube, there's so many demonstrations. If we want, we can change with one simple meal and we can do anything we set our mind to. 

The first O is for option

To choose an alternative choice or make a selection. You know, we are so spoiled with the food stores that we have. Every food is available all year round. So walk the aisles, get inspired, cook. 

The second O is for add on

Having a strong chance of succeeding or winning. We have this. We can learn anything we want to. We can do anything we put our mind to. And let's just think about it one meal at a time. 

And K is for kind

Warm and generous. That's how we feel after a wonderful homecooked meal. Do you know that others can actually feel the love that we put in our food when we prepare a meal for them? Yes, that is the secret ingredient. Love. So spread some today. Have a great week, everyone.