Food for Thought

I've often wondered if any of us really pay attention to the role of food in our lives? Really. Think about it. Have you thought about how big of a part food is in your life? It's huge! Eating is just as important as water and breathing. We often talk of how we love food, and what we like to eat, and etc., but there's more to it than that. There's more to it than just devouring flavors, substances and nutritional benefits. There's something truly extraordinary about it. Food can be so entertaining, so exciting---so...ROMANTIC. If we didn't have to eat, if our bodies were made differently and didn't require food like they do, would we experience things the same way without food? Take picnics for example; there'd really be no need to go on a picnic unless you are just planning on sitting on a blanket. You wouldn't need to pack anything to eat because there'd be no such thing as eating. There'd be no dinner parties. There'd be no restaurants! No cooking shows, no celebrity chefs, nothing. No cultured cuisines from foreign lands. Without food, the world would be...dull...or at least, duller than usual.

One thing is for certain, Cassie and I would not be able to live in a foodless world. Even if we were made to not have to eat...something deep down inside of us would know something was missing. We are strong lovers of food. One could say our entire day revolves around food, even though we don't necessarily eat as often as we should. Our days usually get busy, our minds get distracted, and next thing you know--it's going on 3pm and all we've had was a cup of coffee and a few pretzel sticks. That's not simply by our own choice...we are not the meal skipping types. We just happen to get weary from not having any food, therefor causing our minds to get distracted with other things.

We usually like to plan special picnics together. Often times we will visit one of our favorite spots with a blanket, two plastic wine cups, a cooler full of cheese, apples and sparkling water, and a large baguette. We set up in a sunny area and dine with glorious pleasure. Over the summer we'd make elaborate cheese platters and small middle eastern dishes for snacks. Visiting New York with the guys, food was almost a constant (and the best part was that we would walk block after block and eventually burn off all the food we ate, so we could happily eat more).

Today was quite a hysterical experience. We started off first thinking we'd grab some sushi at Wegmans and take it with us to eat at the park. Well, let me tell you. We didn't make it to Wegmans. We had to stop at McDonalds on the way because we got so hungry we couldn't wait any longer, (that little spurt of panic of not eating soon enough overwhelmed us). So there we sat, in the parking lot of McDonalds with two delicious burger/sandwiches, and fresh, hot, salty fries, and ice cold beverages. It was as if God had brought Heaven on earth just for us. We easily could have cried, but held back the tears since we didn't want to mess up our eye makeup.

At the park, we spent a good 40 minutes running around, laughing, playing, and taking pictures of each other. We stayed until the sun vanished behind a large hill and the temperature had dropped to an uncomfortable degree. We rode home and made it back in time for dinner. I had prepared stuffed peppers the day before. Once dinner had ended, we went to the movies to see our current favorite film Skyfall for the second time. Caramel macchiatos were purchased, and I was sneaky enough to carry dark sea salted chocolate in my purse. Timing it right, I'd choose to break off a piece of chocolate from the noisy tinfoil wrapper at a scene where a lot of chaos and commotion was taking place.

You'd think we'd be done eating for the day after all of this, right? Wrong. We make it home and decide to spend some time working on our creativity skills; Cassie draws and I continue to type and navigate my way through eBay--learning tricks of the trade and how to sell properly and maintain a good seller's reputation. It approaches midnight, and all of a sudden our stomaches are rumbling. After contemplating on what to fetch to snack on, we decide to go with leftover pizza from last night. I go in the kitchen and prepare two slices (the last two slices in the box, actually) and serve on two paper plates with napkins. Joy filled our faces. We ate in silence...eager to absorb as much enjoyment out of eating the pizza as possible.

You see, if food wasn't as big of a deal as it is to us, these little moments wouldn't be so fun. They wouldn't be so memorable. Food is inviting, creative, interesting, unique, satisfying, enjoyable, and an art in itself. The world would be meaningless without it. Life would be meaningless without it. That, my friends, is food for thought.

Love,

Chloe