The Recipe

When I googled "recipe for . . .", the first thing that came up was banana bread, followed by sangria, then by meatloaf.  

Sounds like a good menu for the day.

Our only real experience with Belgian family life is through an occasional conversation Jim has at work or an invitation to dinner at our neighbors house.  

I read recently that, traditionally, a wife who is a good cook is a source of pride for a Belgian man.  I'm not sure if that's true anymore as family life has changed in the past few decades.  Women don't just cook, clean and raise the kids . . . but for some, it probably still has some significance.

For the record, Jim is not a Belgian man and I am not a good cook.  Here's the thing . . . I can cook, but you see, therein lies the difference.  Following a recipe or simply putting food on the table in no way constitutes a good cook.  Good cooks love to cook and it has nothing to do with just putting food on the table.

Jim is one of those good cooks.  Those kind of cooks who don't need a recipe, who taste what they cook, alter it, add to it, invent a new recipe out of it.  Like my brother used to say - Jim's gravy would make an old shoe taste good.

Well, he had a good teacher.  His mother.  She is not only a bonafide good cook, she is the best!

And that brings me to the most important thing about today, 25 July:  it is her birthday.  

Happy Birthday, Mrs. Frazier!  I wish I was sitting at your table eating pepper steak right now :)