Why Food?

I was waxing philosophical last night as I knitted on a scarf for a friend in Chicago--why did I select food as the organizing principle of my blog? I do other things. I am a beginner knitter, crocher, quilter, and cross-stitcher. All of which I took up after I finished my Ph.D. in art history. I could've just told stories about the family without the food hook, like many other mommy blogs (which, of course, this still is).

So, why emphasize food? This would seem to be the root of my weight and body issues, the interest and dedication to food, so why spend my extra time reading, writing, and experimenting with food? In fact, the weight issues existed long before the more methodical interest in food. But it seems like jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Know thy "enemy?" Not exactly.

It's part nostalgia, part history, part sociology, part psychology, part politics. Like it or not, I spend a lot of time thinking about food--what groceries to buy, what recipes to try next, what the kids might like, where DP and I can go on date night when the babysitter is here. And so, I like to think, by expanding my interests in food beyond grocery lists and recipe files to include Slow Food and sustainable agriculture, Alice Waters and Alice B. Toklas, ancient Roman recipes and open hearth cooking techniques, I'm learning something about the world and cultures around me, in addition to myself and my origins.

But don't be surprised if I throw in a scarf pattern from time to time!

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One Skein Knitted Scarf

Size: appx. 6 x 60"

Materials: 6 oz worsted weight yarn; size 10 knitting needles

Directions: Cast on 22 loosely.

Row 1 Knit
Repeat row 1 for pattern, using entire skein.
Bind off and weve in ends.

Adapted from Lion Brand pattern