I have always enjoyed cooking. The idea of cooking, watching people cook, learning new things and although now I am considered a chef or as most of my family would say an alright cook, I didn't learn at an early age. My mother was a very good cook and she was very particular about how things were to be done and didn't really want me in the kitchen bothering her in any way. I was a member of the clean up crew but never on the creating crew. I loved watching Julia Child on television and the main reason, as a child, that I loved her is because if something wasn't just perfect she would say oh that is ok, you can fix that. She was, as she called her own self, fearless in the kitchen. When I got married at 18, because I really wasn't the fearless type and had zero experience in cooking, I had a very hard time learning how to do things in the kitchen.
Today I was watching an old episode of Baking with Julia and here was Martha Stewart with her. I looked at the two women and realized although they could both cook exquisite meals and loved the art of cooking, they were so completely different. Julia was about the experience of cooking and eating, not worrying about making mistakes. If you make a mess, just clean it up, if you burn something, oh well try, try again and Martha has always been be oh so careful about how you do this or that as to not disturb it or make any mistakes. I thought to myself, although, I love Martha to pieces, if she had been on television instead of Julia, I would have never even tried to cook anything. She is indeed a perfectionist.
I am not saying that we shouldn't be careful in how we do things but even though I have been cooking now for a very long time, I still make some horrific mistakes, things get burned, recipes don't turn out just right and that's ok, I will just try, try again. I am now fearless in the kitchen as well. I was very blessed to have worked in the kitchen with some really good cooks and chefs that taught me a whole lot about how to do this or that and were not stingy at all with the knowledge that they had acquired either through experience only or through French Cooking School knowledge. The thing that I find quite hilarious is Julia Child was French Cooking School trained and had a culinary degree, Martha does not and has never been to cooking school but to watch her and to listen to her you would think that she owned the cooking school and taught everyone else and was a Executive Chef Extraordinaire. Titles, don't get the stew cooked, a degree does not a chef make and I have learned over the years to learn and to keep learning. To keep my passion stirred for cooking and to keep a servants heart.
I love to cook and to eat but equally so, I love to watch other people eat, and enjoy their meal. I love to set the table very nice and serve people. Not so they will say oh Priscilla you are fabulous but to have them enjoy and truly relish what they are eating. Sometimes I tend to gild the lily a little, I suppose but I enjoy trying new things and experimenting with different flavor combinations. Rarely do I ever go exactly by a recipe, unless it is the very first time at a completely different recipe than I have ever tried. Even when I am watching cooking shows I find myself saying oh I would have used Provolone or I wouldn't have put in that much thyme. Cooking for sure is my passion and living alone I don't get to do a whole lot of shall we say impressive cooking but I do try to keep my skills honed and keep my creative juices flowing. Right now in the oven I have carrots, turnips, onions drizzled with olive oil and my own rosemary vinegar roasting in the oven, the whole apartment smells divine.
While I was watching Julia and Martha today I thought isn't that the way we as Christians are some time? We make people think that they have to be perfect to come to Christ, that they have to never ever do or say anything wrong or they just aren't up to par or up to our rigid standards. So in my overthinking which is normal for me, I thought we should all start out as Julia and allow people to learn as they make mistakes and then as they grow in the faith, we will become more like Martha and begin to allow them to become polished as they are growing in their faith and acquiring and growing their spiritual fruit. So.........today as you examine yourself as a Christ follower are you a Julia? or are you a Martha? just a little food for thought, yes pun intended...........
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