Cooking for the homies and delighting in creation

by Ione Dellos

Nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla are folded carefully into the batter of what will soon become banana bread. Give it forty-five minutes in the oven, five minutes to cool (yes, you have to wait), and all of your love.

You cannot make exceptional banana bread without love. Actually, you can’t make any exceptional dish without love. It’s not an ingredient but it’s how you put your dish together. It’s who you think of as you dance around the kitchen, making sure that doesn’t burn, this is chopped properly and everything tastes alright.

Cooking and sharing food with your friends and ones you hold dear is one of the best acts of community you can share with them. Food truly brings us together and making something with love for the people you love just makes it taste better.

Make things for yourself with love as well. Even if you are sad, you can enjoy what your life has become. Yes, you are still sad inside, but it’s not as bad as before with a little dish of love in front of you. Keep in mind that when you share your time with your friends to cook for them, they might be sad inside as well. Share the same dish of love with them, and together it will not be as bad.

The best part about cooking is making something delightful out of a bunch of things you grabbed at the grocery store. It’s the same reason why you have to turn wheat into bread and grapes into wine, so that you may delight in the act of creation.