Food

The table is a meeting place, a gathering ground, the source of sustenance and nourishment, festivity, safety, and satisfaction.  A person cooking is a person giving.  Even the simplest food is a gift…Laurie Colwin.  Our loving Creator has blessed us with an array of colorful and flavorful food to eat.  I remember my grandmother and mom were big on cooking food with flare and color.  Till this day, I still cook food together according to color appeal; so if I do collard greens, I need another color vegetable to balance like sweet glazed orange carrots or yellow roasted corn.  Yes, I was trained to even garnish meat with colorful seasons and herbs.  Honestly, cooking beautiful tasteful food is an amazing sensory experience on all levels.  I believe cooking and eating food with love ones is loving and intimate.  In fact, I love when all of my siblings come together and cook amazing food.  As I close my eyes: my oldest brother Earl is doing a seafood feast, brother Mike manning the grill with steaks/chicken/burgers, sister Lisa doing a slap your momma homemade pound cake with lemon drip icing, sister Stephanie making a mean casserole dish/real deal macaroni and cheese, sister Dee chopping away all sorts of colorful veggies to saute with fire, and me doing Louisiana style red beans and rice along with down home peach cobbler.  Truly, food is not just for energy but it’s an experience of creativity and sensory awakening.  Maybe, that’s why M struggles with certain foods.  He has been going to feeding clinic therapy to help with sensory issues to food.  I never realized how many textures food encompass.  I have noticed if a food item do not appeal to even one of M’s senses, he refuse to eat it.  Hence if it smell wrong or look weird or feel odd; M will not entertain that food item.  As a mom who loves to cook flavorful and colorful food, I had to readjust in keeping some food very simple in order for M to eat.   Like for supper today, I did a bed of herb season yellow rice with garlic basil fried chicken in olive oil.  However, M had simple soft small turkey meatballs cut up over plain diced up noodles lightly sauced.  Trust me, I  have learned do not over fancy it for him or add too many items together on his plate.  It took years for M to accept more than one food item together on a plate and sometimes it still a struggle now.  M is reminding me that food is not all about fancy ingredients but simple made-up foods are better when they’re cooked with love and care.

Simply an autism mom enjoying food