Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon, or not at all. [Harriet von Horne]

The most important ingredient in any recipe is love.

When food is prepared with loving hands, it always tastes better. In my own life, cooking and sharing a meal with others has created friendships, nurtured relationships and cultivated deep conversations. Cooking can become a true act of love, if we allow it to be. It can become an opportunity to invite God into our daily routines too.

"It is possible to offer fervent prayer even while walking in public or strolling alone... or even while cooking." [St. John Chrysostom] Prayer is our very relationship with God, so why not invite Him into the common? into the everyday? How much love would be in our cooking then? I love the idea of God being present in my kitchen and often use that time to converse with Him.

Our culture tends to embrace the fast lane, the quick fix...efficiency over careful preparation. The way we consume food and gather for mealtime certainly shows this shift. Fast food is now more common than a home cooked meal. Eating "on the run" has become a regular occurrence. Mealtime is spent with our eyes on our phones instead of the people in front of us.

How much would our culture change if there was even a slight shift in how we eat food every day? If a family gathered around a table, without distractions, to share their challenges, their accomplishments, their happiness and their gratitude? If a couple ate a weeknight dinner by candlelight? If a child helped prepare the meal or set the table? We are missing opportunities all the time and we don't need to be. I challenge you to protect mealtime for yourself, your family and your friends. Keep it sacred...invite God into your kitchen and around your table... pray before meals.

Our culture can be changed meal by meal, table by table and home by home.

+Saturari,

Amanda