By Laura Stec
E-mail Laura Stec
About this blog: I've been attracted to food for good and bad reasons for many years. From eating disorder to east coast culinary school, food has been my passion, profession & nemesis. I've been a sugar addict, a 17-year vegetarian, a food and en...
(More)About this blog: I've been attracted to food for good and bad reasons for many years. From eating disorder to east coast culinary school, food has been my passion, profession & nemesis. I've been a sugar addict, a 17-year vegetarian, a food and environment pioneer, macrobiotic, Master Cleanser, ayurvedic, and officially-designated health-nut or party-girl (depending on the year). Professionally, I've worn many industry hats including: line cook, corporate chef, Food Coach, caterer, product developer, restaurant reviewer, culinary school teacher, corporate wellness educator, food co-op clerk, author, and even Cirque-du-Soleil lead popcorn concessioner! For years I managed an outdoor kitchen, deep in the bear-infested woods of Tahoe, and also for hospitals (the most unhealthy kitchen I ever worked in?), Singapore high-rises, mule-pack trips, Canadian catholic rectories, and more events than I could ever recall. Yet I still keep discovering. Actually, I adapt everyday by new lessons learned from teachers, customers and students. However there is one food truth I now hold sacrosanct: Eaters are motivated by pleasure. So no matter what we discuss here - recipes or restaurants, food politics or pairings, local events, food as art, or even as God, I will always come from a high-vibe, party perspective. Oh I do still long to change the world with great tasting food, but know in my heart, "If it ain't fun, it don't get done!" So - wanna come to the Food Party? By the way - it's a potluck.
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Valentine's Day, many years ago, while
working on that restaurant line, eating way too much sugar, I noticed the store was packed all day long, just like the day before Thanksgiving. I asked a co-worker why he thought there were so many shoppers, and I'll never forget his response. "People need a special day to acknowledge love. It's a reminder to make an effort to show others how much they mean to us."
Still not sure what I think about that, but love did get a hold of me this week. So let me kiss your hands and whisper in your ear once again, sweet poems of food and love.
You have to admit that nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity. (1)
No really, if more of us valued food, cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. (2)
I heard if you really want to make a friend, go to someone's house and eat with them...the people who give you their food, give you their heart. (3)
Yes, yes, and if music be the food of love, play on. (4)
On a personal note, I went in for the annual checkup. My doctor said I had to stop throwing intimate dinners for four unless I invited three other people. (5) I told her my weaknesses have always been food and men?in that order. (6)
"Doc," I said, "Did you know cooking is a lot like making love? It just takes a little longer to cleanup." (7)
And she said, "Yes, all you need is love, Laura. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt." (8)
Happy Valentine's Day sweetheart.
Thou art to me a delicious torment. (9)
1. Voltaire
2. J. R. R. Tolkien
3. Cesar Chavez
4. William Shakespeare
5. Orson Welles
6. Dolly Parton
7. Michael Tucker
8. Charles M. Schulz
9. Ralph Waldo Emerson
(this posting reprinted from Feb 11, 2014)
