Supper Time

A LOT of thought goes into dinner preparation at my house. I LOVE to cook and it shows.

I grew up in a tradition where food is used to bond and a sit down meal was the culmination of a hard days work... a chance to re-connect with family; to be savored and enjoyed by all. Dinner was the most important meal of the day, and it was planned, usually, a week ahead.

The women were professional athletes and dinner was their Olympic trials. There were the usual; pork chops and mashed potatoes on Fridays, stew peas on Thursdays, and of course, Sunday dinner of rice and peas and baked chicken. Yum!!!! And though sometimes you could predict what was for dinner on any given night, dinner was never routine or blah. It was always savory and good and satisfying and unexpected.

Women took pride in their meals. They enjoyed laying down a nice spread for their family. Dinner could take hours or minutes, depending on the meal and how hungry you were, but each meal was given a lot of thought and preparation.

It's only natural I saw food and dinner the same way.

Although I grew up with women who were cooks, I, myself, was slow to the craft. I never spent much time in the kitchen growing up, except to eat, watch tv and do the dishes. I was always in my room while my grandmother cooked and when I was younger, outside in the yard playing while whoever toiled away in the kitchen. I had no time to learn how to cook back then... I was too busy being too important to care.

Meals were almost like magic to me, appearing before my eyes, to the pleasure of my starving tummy. How, I sometimes wondered, did they take that hunk of beef and turn it into such a delicious dish? As I got a little bit older, I was curious to learn, but still not too eager or willing to try. I might have spent one Sunday afternoon with my grandmother, watching her while she cooked. The delicate way she moved about the kitchen... the art of her hand as she seasoned her fish, fried her meats, simmered her sauces. I might have made rice once or twice. I vaguely remember taking on Sunday dinner ONCE.... just once before retreating back to my room to do to 'more important things'. But I never learned how to make the really big meals, the complicated meals, the gold medal meals ... curry chicken, goat, oxtail, stew peas, season rice, run down and the meal of meals: rice and peas.

As the years rolled off and I became a mommy and 'wifey', I got bitten by the happy homemaker bug and figured I should really try and learn to cook... if not for joy then for survival's sakes. I started small and through trial and error (many errors), I learned. But I lacked that certain magic. I made chicken too salty, rice too sticky, beef too red (no one likes the meat to be still bleeding and practically fidgety on their plates)!!!

Eventually I got better and even good. I learned to cook salmon by following (loosely) a recipe from a magazine It quickly became a favorite meal of mine. I learned to make ackee and salt-fish (the national Jamaican dish) and a breakfast staple. I learned to make fried dumpling (which I make often and all my kids, and even hubby, enjoy). I even learned how to make curry chicken.... a dish that I thought I would never be able to make.

I also started watching the food network and learned various food techniques, perfecting my way around a kitchen and a stove. I took my knowledge of what I already knew from watching women I grew up with and combined that with everything I learned watching the chefs on tv to become, what hubby has called, a great cook.

I'm still learning, especially when it comes to authentic Jamaican cuisine, but I have become such a connoisseur about the kitchen, that cooking has become one of my favorite hobbies. I take pride in my meals and get excited planning my dinner menu.

I start by making a menu for the week... it usually consists of whatever I feel like eating for that week, any ideas I get from a tv show or an email or just using everyday staples already on hand. I try to mix it up, varying between meat and vegetarian dishes. And I like to get creative by making up my own recipes. If I do use a recipe, unless I am baking, I don't follow it exactly. I just like to put my own spin on meals.

I make a few different pasta dishes, I make several variations of chicken, meat and fish dishes. And my ideas for vegetarian meals are endless... so I try and have at least three different kinds of veggies on hand for that week's dinner.

I cannot get enough... even pretending sometimes I have my own food network cooking show while I cook, which ups the fun factor. I love the freedom food gives me. The possibilities are endless, to use my imagination to create a spectacular dish. And I love to take my time with the meal. Sometimes, dinner prep takes a few hours from start to finish, sometimes only a few minutes. And I always end with a big finale, the presentation.

Since I spend so much time in the kitchen during the week, I usually take a break on the weekends. And even though I miss the days of big Sunday dinners at 2, I use the weekdays as my time to shine. I did learn to make rice and peas (a HUGH accomplishment for me), so I have gotten my chance to tackle Sunday dinner a time or two. But without fail, unless I am sick, there is dinner on the table, served up with pride, for my family to enjoy Monday to Friday. My masterpiece and gift to them.