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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Well Food Partiers!, there comes a time every so often when the best celebration is one of quiet contemplation. Welcome to January my dear.
For a lot of us, eating and drinking is a thoughtless process. Every day the same thing. Open mouth, insert whatever, chew, chew, swallow and repeat. Just like a machine processing widgets, many humans spend the entire day consuming food and drink completely detached from our bodies and our digestion systems. Drink enter in, pee process out. Food enter in, poop process out. Over and over and over. Day after day. Year after year.
However, true masters of mastication realize now and again, the best way to thoroughly appreciate the amazing act of eating and drinking, and all the joy it brings, is to stop.
Cease.
Desist.
A change up in the way you eat or drink is such a revelatory action, that gives us a break from our habits, a realization we have those habits, and insight about who we are, and how we handle things.
Or don’t.
A line I’ve used for years is,
“if I haven’t accomplished anything else, I healed myself from an eating disorder.” Tongue-in-cheek, I know I’ve racked up a few more bonus points in life, but this remains a success I’m very proud of, not only because it helps my body to be better, but because it exercises and strengthens my mind too. Now you may be one of the lucky folks with no history of eating or drinking disorders, but no matter. Wherever you fall on the spectrum, time spent discovering blind associations with either process can spill benefits over and into many parts of your life.
So join us! A group of my friends are doing Dry January. Some have a goal of January 20th for obvious reasons…. and others hope to go the distance, crossing the finish line on February 1, or who knows when. You might eliminate alcohol, sugar or something else. Play it however you want. I’ll be putting up fun recipes throughout the month, and hopefully words to inspire. Please add your inspirational practices in the comments as well. If you are really serious,
contact me and I’ll add you to our support joker email list.
Here’s to fun in 2021!
In prep, let’s take these first few weeks to reconnect with our body, mind, and self.
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