The Cooking "Gene"

There are those who enjoy cooking and food.  There are those who need to find food to eat.  There are various places in between.  In my family, some people have what we call the "cooking gene" while others in the same family do not have it. 

My aunt claims to be among those who don't have the "gene."  Her food strategy is that of a very good hunter and gatherer.  She can find and buy delicious and interesting prepared food all sorts of places.  She brings it home.  They unwrap it and eat it.  She remarkably skilled at this.  They do not suffer.  My sister claimed not to have the "gene," but is finding later in life an enjoyment in the kitchen which she didn't have until just recently.  

I think about food all day long.  I was well into my adulthood when I realized that the average person doesn't think about food the way I do.  But really, cooking every day is a lot of work!  It isn't just time in front of the stove.  There is shopping, planning, organizing, preparation, then clean up. 

I bring this up because I recently had a heavenly few days with many members of the Osborne family.  The wedding of Step-Son and the new Daughter-in-Law, as I've mentioned.  While I really enjoyed the experience of planning and preparing many meals, here's what went into it:

Thursday night:  Pork roast, salad, garlic bread and apple pie.  The roast came from a sale I shopped at several weeks previously and was waiting for me in my freezer.  I started defrosting it in my fridge a several days previous.  The day before I put my homemade roast rub on it and returned it to the fridge.  The afternoon I served it, I made a special trip home from my errands to make sure it cooked long enough.  The salad is a favorite of ours which I have never posted here, so that recipe will be coming up.  The garlic bread is a packaged thing I buy at Safeway.  But the Pie was gravenstien apple and homemade.

Friday morning:  cereal and juice and coffee.

Friday afternoon:  Roast chicken, homegrown green beans and salad for the ladies or those looking for a light meal and brats on a bun for those wanted a grilled thing or more meat.  We figure we served 20 meals.  Some just picked and ate a bit, but we went through some serious food that afternoon.  Thank goodness for my wonderful sister-in-law's help.  I only sent Husband to the store twice that day.

Friday evening:  Wedding reception.

Saturday morning:  Blueberry pancakes, bacon, and eggs.  Some of the guests were leaving that morning.

Saturday afternoon:  A new set of guests.  Thank goodness for left overs.  I pulled out quite a bit of stuff and let people pick and circulate.  I had the leftovers from the wedding reception and the left over wedding cake, which helped.

Saturday night:  Was going to be spaghetti, but Step-Son wanted to use up some meat they had so he grilled,  we made the salad again and garlic bread from the same source.

So here we are now several days past.  Step Son and Daughter-in-law are in Hawaii and I am still cleaning out the fridge and stove burners, wiping splattered cabinets and making a shopping list of staples that got used from the pantry.  What an wonderful experience, but I am still tired.