Mamma Mia

"Everything you see I owe to spaghetti."
~Sophia Loren

My Favorite Sin

Most of us think it was the vice of lust that got us thrown out of the garden. Not so. Gluttony was the villain, according to theologians, who say that Eve's sin was simply a love of good food.

~ from In the Devil's Garden; A History of Forbidden Food by Stewart Lee Allen, one of my favorite books about food

Will You Be Mine?

February 22nd, 2009 update: We've started a new blog for Inara photos and updates: InaraGrace.blogspot.com

"It seems to me that our three basic needs, for food and security and love, are so mixed and mingled and entwined that we cannot straightly think of one without the others. So it happens that when I write of hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it, and warmth and the love of it and the hunger for it; and then the warmth and richness and fine reality of hunger satisfied; and it is all one."

M.F.K. Fisher, The Art of Eating

The Lovin' Spoonful

Amidst all of the colorfully-wrapped gifts and bowls of candy, piles of Christmas cookies and stockings hung by the chimney with care, the shining light of the holiday this year at my parents' house in Pennsylvania was undoubtedly the first grandchild, my daughter. For most of the midday dinner, the baby was passed from relative to relative, each of them oohing and aahing over the newest family member. With a glass of red wine in my hand, I watched my sweet baby go from lap to lap, and if she was smiling then I could relax and enjoy the warmth of the moment. Between bites of mom's roast turkey and ham, sweet potatoes and creamed pearl onions, creamed corn and stuffing, cranberry sauce and stuffed mushrooms, mashed potatoes and gravy, the conversation centered around the first five months in the life of Inara Grace.

Later in the day, after I napped to recover from a long Christmas Eve spent caring for her during a midnight croup attack, it was time to show everyone how she was learning to eat from a spoon. Sitting on my mother's lap with an oversized bib and an extra cloth over mom's legs, she giggled and sputtered and squealed through the feeding with me kneeling on the floor in front of her. And we may have even been successful at getting some of the rice cereal in her. But the most wonderful part was the way the family gathered around to watch this lesson; the fascination with how a new person learns to enjoy the act of eating.

I remember very cleary the moment when the nurses first handed me my baby, only minutes after her birth, for her first feeding. There was no hesitation; she knew exactly what to do. Even though those first weeks were difficult and often painful, I really looked forward to our time together every few hours, especially the middle-of the-night feedings when it was just her and me in the dark. After several weeks of breastfeeding exclusively, it was necessary for the little one to learn to eat from a bottle so that I could return to work. The milk came from me, but my husband fed her on the little glider in the nursery, and I was suprised at how difficult it was for me to watch him with her. I liked that it had been my job and my job only, and seeing that I was no longer needed for this left me with a tightening in my chest and tears in my eyes. But Inara was perfectly happy and getting a full belly regardless, and they were able to form their own bond through the feedings. The next and even more difficult step was gradually switching to formula to make my transition back to work easier on all of us. But again, Inara took to it wonderfully, showing us that she seems to have inherited her mother's independence and eagerness to try anything and everything new.

Over the last month, Inara has watched us eating our own meals, following our spoons and chopsticks with her eyes, reaching for our forks and glasses, wanting to know what it is that we seem to enjoy so much that she is missing out on so far. A few weeks ago we started with the cereals- still mostly liquid- fed to her with a little rubber-tipped spoon. I have ended a feeding with her cereal splattered all over me, laughing at Inara trying to blow bubbles, reach for the spoon, or (even funnier), try to dive mouth-first into the bowl. Her chin is covered with the grainy beige mixture, and her bib is absolutely saturated. But the entire process warms my heart. I smile and she smiles and we know that one of these days, she will get it.

Merry Christmas my loves, and a happy, lovely, merry, and bright season. I hope you eat well and love better, and never underestimate the joy of eating with the ones that you love.

I would imagine they are all in New York City...

Santa is very jolly because he knows where all the bad girls live.

~ Dennis Miller



Let's be naughty and save Santa the trip.

~ Gary Allen

Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart.

~ Washington Irving

But for now, let me say - Without hope or agenda - Just because it's Christmas - And at Christmas you tell the truth - To me, you are perfect.

~ Love, Actually

Everybody Knows...

Winter is the time for comfort, for
good food and warmth, for the touch
of a friendly hand and for a talk beside
the fire: it is the time for home.

~ Dame Edith Sitwell

Excuse me, do you have any food?

You know that just before that first Thanksgiving dinner there was one wise, old Native American woman saying, "Don't feed them. If you feed them, they'll never leave."
~ Dylan Brody

I celebrated Thanksgiving in the traditional way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house; we had an enormous feast. And then I killed them and took their land.
~ Jon Stewart

But in America, it was different. The founding fathers landed in 1620 . They set off from Plymouth and landed in Plymouth! How lucky is that? "This is Plymouth? We've just come from Plymouth! We've gone round in a circle. Lads, back on the boats." They finally got there and said, "Ah, this is where our God has brought us to! We can practice our religion here, we can raise a family. There's nobody here! Excuse me… There's nobody here! Yes, a land empty of human existence… Who the fuck are these guys? ( mimes the headdress) What's all this, please? No, we don't want any of your food, thank you very much! Just put some clothes on!"

Meanwhile, that winter… "Excuse me, do you have any food?"
~ Eddie Izzard

Just One of Those Things

"There is no sight on earth more appealing than the sight of a woman making dinner for someone she loves."

~Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938)

Made For Each Other

"A woman might go out for an Hermès bag, I go to Masa. That's also a really good first date place. Take someone to Masa and if they don't eat absolutely everything, there's no possibility of a relationship."

~ Anthony Bourdain