FOOOOOD

 Since I never really stick with these things, I'll give you fair warning that I'll probably forget occasionally...the whole Thankful Every Day thing. But I'm going to do what I can, when I can.

(pardon....need to refill the Liquid Motivation)

(mmm so good)

 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. Genesis 1:29

Anyway, for Today's Installment...I'm thankful for tasty things. Good food, hot coffee, ginger tea.  Things that taste good are important to me. That particular sense is well developed. As a child, Mom's cooking was...kind of...experimental. She also was not highly motivated to spend time in the kitchen so it was also repetitive. One big pot of something and we'd eat it until it was gone. Sometimes, that wasn't a bad thing. Chili, lasagna...those were always good for a few days. Other times, it was A Very Bad Thing Indeed. 

Beans in chili is controversial. I like them.

sigh...but regardless, the food was nutritious and plentiful, even if I wasn't always grateful. I can look back on it and see that. 

HOWEVER (you knew there was a however, right?) 

As an adult, and graced with the ability to choose my own food without anyone else's opinion (at least now, anyway. Himself pretty much liked anything I fixed. Capt was pickier but still liked good stuff), I can eat what I want and NOT eat what I don't want. I was in my 30's before I realized I was in NO WAY obligated to eat broccoli. I was 45 before I had brussels sprouts prepared in a way in which I was willing to eat them. I will try any sort of food that will make it past my nose. At least once. And I DON'T HAVE TO EAT BROCCOLI IF I DON'T WANT TO. Nor turnip or mustard greens. Thank You, Lord, that I live in a place and time where/when I am not obliged nor need (for the sake of nutrition) to eat bitter greens.

A while back, when I lived in East Georgia (Post-Himself and Pre-Capt), a friend asked me to pick up her Sunbasket (meal service) box, as she was going to be out of town. "Eat the food" she said. Ok, and I did. Delicious stuff! And so convenient!  So I thought I'd give that a try, a couple of weeks ago. I tried a different service, and while the recipes were interesting, they weren't anything I couldn't have made here from my own pantry, and blaaaand. SO BLAND. I added a lot of extra to them, because Bleh. Cancelled that after the second delivery. And I'd even picked the ones that were labelled Spicy.  I'm going to go back to doing my own thing.

All that said, what a privilege it is to live in a time and place where food in plentiful and varied. I have the ability and means to grow pretty much whatever I want, if I'm not lazy about it. I can go into town and choose pretty much whatever I want from the Farmer's Market, or the grocery store (of which there are many options there as well), and I have the means to do so. I have, in my pantry, spices and herbs from all over the world. Peppers, cardamom, cumin, coriander, multiple varieties of paprikas, sumac, several curry blends. There's only 2 spices I'm not a fan of: fenugreek and asafoetida. Those are easy enough to avoid and not commonly used anyway. What an incredible gift it is to easily access flavors from all over the place! I can make a culinary visit to Ethiopia with berbere, or Thailand with lemongrass and tiny hot peppers, or Argentina with chimichurri...oh my word! World traveling within my kitchen!

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.   1 Corinthians 10:31

So that's my daily gratitude...food. Plentiful, varied, and tasty.