Cooking with Love

This week I had the pleasure of catering a colleague's dear friend's birthday in a lovely home in Miami shores.  The menu included: Handmade turkey meatballs with fresh tomato sauce, a variety of mini quiches-zucchini, bacon onion cheddar, and tomato olive pepperocini  with cream cheese (my fav!), mini grilled avocado tomato Munster sandwiches on Parmesan crusted sour dough, chicken and veggie quesadillas, spinach and cheese stuffed mushrooms, spinach and artichoke dip, and lastly fresh spicy guacamole!

 
Cooking this menu in a day and a half solo is somewhat like running a marathon and even leaves me with a great sense of accomplishment when it's successfully delivered. But this delivery was quite a special experience.  Her assistant asked me immediately what my sign was. I smiled and said "a Leo." She smiled back and said I must have Cancer as my rising sign. I must admit that I entertain myself daily with reading my horoscope on my iPhone app.  Silly yes, but it's fun and always interesting when it seems to fit life's circumstances...  I let her know my husband is a Cancer if that means anything but that I didn't know my rising sign. She let me know that there would be an astrologist at the party if I was staying.  I wasn't but was intrigued about the interesting guests I would encounter if I did!

Shortly after the owner of the home tasted my food, she turned to me and said "honey, (then paused and smiled) you cook with love"...  For those closest to me you will know how tickled i was to hear this.  Less than 6 months ago I left my world as a nonprofit leader after 17 years of committed service to explore my passion for cooking.  Many times over the past several years I was encouraged to do this by loved ones, and usually their reasoning was something like this: "Cooking is how you share love with the world, to not spend your life sharing your talent and food with the world would be a disservice."

And so that evening I got my sign of validation that I am on the right path.  Others who are strangers can even taste and feel it.  I love cooking and even more sharing it with others.

I had thoughts of blogging about this experience Wednesday evening when I got home but was simply too exhausted and with much to do in our home as we prepare for our annual holiday potluck Saturday night.  And then something happened this morning that made me make the time... I was able to squeeze in a 7 mile run this morning in between cooking and cleaning.  On my route home down Lincoln road I decided to stop by my seamstress who was hemming my outfit for tomorrow evening. I had stumbled upon her -- the most delightful Greek woman in her 70s, Julia, whose sewing shop is in a small office space above Books and Books on Lincoln road just yesterday after asking Siri where I could go for alterations. Surprisingly she said I could come by yesterday and have it ready the next day. Turns out she has been in this same space as a tailor for 38 years. And with the same Singer sewing machine! When I dropped off my outfit yesterday  I had a lovely chat with Julia, but today's was even lovelier!

I came in sweaty in my running clothes 2 hours earlier than our arranged pick up time since I was passing by. It was ready and while she bagged the piece she asked me about my running. I shared that I had run 2 marathons in the past 6 months, San Francisco and Chicago. And that I was continuing my training to complete a trio, ending with Miami ING next month. Can't say I will not run another marathon, but the commitment to myself was 3 in one year since 3 is my favorite number.  I wanted to start with the West Coast,  then complete a Midwest run and end with the East Coast-my home.

This is where it gets interesting. She points to an article on her wall, which is covered with postcards from beautiful cities all over the world and a ton of pictures of Greece, her home country.  But this article was from the Miami Herald from 2010 titled the Marathon Man.  It was a story about her husband, now 76 who has run 24 marathons!  He started running in his 50s and she has followed him all over the world as he runs marathons in Brussels, Paris, Rome, to name a few. Last October he had emergency open heart surgery and it kept him from running a marathon in Germany. He is doing well now and back to running 9 miles every other day and hoping to run the full ING as well... It was a delightful visit.  I went to pay her and left $25 cash for her services and thanked her again for the quick turnaround despite her need to sew by hand because the fabric would not hold thread with her Singer. She called me back as I left her work space and gave me $5 back, saying it was only $20 ( which she had told me yesterday). I had wanted to leave a tip... She insisted.

I smiled and quickly accepted it back... It was then that I felt, "oh she sews with love"....  And her husband, as do I, runs with love..  Here's to doing more of whatever we offer the world and allows us to show and share love. What do you do with love?