It Was Food All Along

I've always been the person who wanted to know and do everything. I set myself up as a Jack of All Trades and I was a complete hoarder, with both tangible items and information. I do have a horrible memory. One of my greatest fears is that I will learn something and subsequently forget it. To retain information I have to practice over and over again until it becomes second nature.

In my early years, I've done everything from cheerleading and dance to Michigan Youth in Government and academic games. I juggled both DECA and volleyball competitions. I never nailed down my true calling because I was always interested in EVERYTHING and I always changed my mind and I always needed everything to be particular. But… usually in stories, no matter how chaotic, there's always a central theme. Maybe even a few. I can look back on a ton of things I've done in my life… some of the earliest things I've loved was reading and writing, but even those weren't surrounding my everyday life. It's weird that I didn't think of this before, but it was always food that everything connected to. Let me explain.

I used to keep a daily journal. Like I said, I loved to write all the time. I loved composition books and those flimsy tan journals the most… in fact I kept tons of them. I loved fresh notebooks and interactive or lockable diaries. Each day I would write down mundane things… but I always made sure to write what I ate. My favorite times to write was during a holiday because I could write down the exact things that my mother made and what I would eat later. My favorite thing to do on those mornings was watch the food channels to see what the celebrities cooked.

In reading, I used to read the Baby Sitter's Little Sister series often. I ventured to the Narnia and the Harry Potter books as well, but what were my favorite parts? What they ate and what they cooked. Karen's Turkey Day had to be my favorite because of the food they prepared and I got a new recipe to melt sliced cheese on top of saltine crackers in the microwave (the book had them do that to Fritos). I chose later books based on the titles (Karen's Pizza Party), and still remember that Karen's favorite food was Hamburgers with Mashed Potatoes. In The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, there is an eating scene with Mr. Tumnus that I used to reread and the same with the beaver family. I didn't know what Turkish Delight was, but it sounded delicious! I lived for Harry Potter's feasts at Hogwarts and loved the various new foods of the magical world. Another secret? I never read the Boxcar children series… I skimmed through them to find the inevitable scene where they would find something to eat and prepare a meal.

If there's nothing to watch, I switch to the Food Network. One of my favorite shows growing up was Iron Chef. I used to love to receive fake food for my dolls. My mom had a subscription to a recipe card service and I used to separate them by category and decide which ones I wanted to cook. There are still stains all over some of them. Light reading was a food magazine or a cookbook. With all this, I don't understand how on earth going to school for Culinary Arts or Hospitality Business was not my first choice! Food brings people together and food attached to a memory helps me remember that memory.

All my life I wanted to cook a large meal for my family and friends and I would cross my fingers in hopes that they would like it. I took pictures of food. I kept a little review book for restaurants I attended. I think going to Culinary School will be a large step for me mentally because it is pure and concentrated joy for me. When I see fresh ingredients, I can't contain my excitement. When I step into a place full of cookware, I'm in ecstasy. My best Christmas was the year I got a stand mixer and a food processor. My graduation gift was a set of bakeware, my birthday gift a cast-iron pizza stone, and Christmas of 2013 featured my cake turntable, a flour sifter, and a Couture Chocolate cookbook. My craziest dreams included a batch of truffles and milk-chocolate leaves.

It might sound gluttonous and I may be obsessed, but it is what it is. Everyone knows the risks of following their dreams. Everyone always believes that they will be the exception. I still want to do everything and know everything. I still want ten kids who will look up to me and I still want to build my own dream house. People say don't hold on fast to dreams because not everything is realistic. All I can say is, technically, everything is realistic if you just do it. If you make sacrifices to get it done, it’s never too late. I know for a fact that I'm still procrastinating, but in the end, unless I die prematurely, I'm going to get it done.

Catch me if you can.