six impossible things before breakfast 143would have been more uncomfortable to come home to parents who used
the kitchen for screaming and throwing dishes at each other. Anyway,
whose parents aren’t embarrassing sometimes?
The hardest thing about being raised in a household where most every-
thing is made from scratch is that someday you move out and have to deal
with store- bought bread and yogurt. My mom was quick to catch on to the
leverage she got out of that. “I guess you’ll have to come home more often if
you want good food,” she would tell me. Away from home, I realized I
missed more about mealtimes than just the food. I missed picking fresh
greens from the garden, or taking a jar of dried tomatoes from the pantry, as
the starting point of a meal. It’s obviously convenient to grab a salad or
package of sushi from the dining hall between classes, but eating on the fl y
seems like cheating to me.
Maybe I feel this way because my make- it- yourself upbringing drummed
into me the ethic of working for the things I want. I’ve been involved in
growing and cooking the food that feeds me since I was a little kid, and it
has definitely given me a certain confidence about relying on myself. Just as
meals don’t materialize in the grocery store, I realize a new car and a good
education won’t just spring into my life on their own, but hopefully I will
get there. If everything my heart desired was handed to me on a plate, I’d
probably just want something else.
Cooking meals doesn’t have to be that complicated. Most of the recipes
in this book take less than an hour to prepare. The average American
spends three and a half hours watching TV every day. Even if a family can
only manage to eat a meal together a couple of times a week, whether it’s
breakfast, lunch, or dinner, my vote would be that it’s worth the effort. For
most of my high school years, dinner was often the only chance I’d have to
see my sister or parents all day. We could check up on each other and re-
count the traumas and victories of our days. We might end up laughing
through the whole meal. A choking hazard, maybe, but also a pretty good
way to relieve stress.
Cheese is one of our favorite special foods to make from scratch. This
recipe for homemade mozzarella is from Home Cheese Making by Ricki