The Power of Food

Whenever I make a frittata, I think of my grandmother. No one could make potatoes and eggs better than she. The onions were perfectly caramelized. The potatoes were neither too thin nor too thick. And the seasoning was in the exact proportion.

When my Aunt Jackie must attend a meeting at the Grange or the election or assessment board, she is required to make roasted peppers—her co-workers and friends demand it. No one makes roasted peppers better than my Aunt Jackie. Part of the deliciousness is how she uses her wood burning stove to char the skins. The peppers are neither too firm or too soft. And the oil, vinegar and seasoning she adds are in perfect proportion.

And my mother prepares lots of things well. But she has a knack of taking a cinnamon coffee cake mix, adding a little bit of this and that, and creating a treat that is super moist and not too sweet. It never tastes as if it came out of a box.

No one makes a better coffee cake than my mother.

So when a friend was less than 100% on the health meter the other day and I knew I wanted to prepare her some food as a get well wish, I chose a frittata, some roasted peppers, and a coffee cake. Because not only are they anytime of day foods-- they are comfort foods—things that have always been well prepared by women who give or have given me comfort.

And as I walked in solitude up my friend’s driveway with tray in hand, in reality I had three people along side of me—my grandmother, my mother and my aunt. The love they put into their food was channeled to me and I in turn could channel that love to my friend.

Somehow everything could be made all better—because that is the power of good food and strong women.