The Kitchen Wisdom We Carry With Us
Use what you have. Take care of it. Cook with the seasons. Jan reflects on the quiet kitchen wisdom passed from one generation to the next.
I've been thinking about the things we learn in a kitchen without realizing we're learning them.
Not recipes written on cards or instructions in a cookbook, but the little ways of doing things that get passed from one generation to the next.
Use what you have.
Don't throw something away if it can still be useful.
Cook what's growing.
Take care of your things and they'll take care of you.
Somehow, those lessons stay with us.
The Things We Learn From Those Before Us
For generations, kitchens were places where very little went to waste.
A handful of vegetables could become soup. Herbs from the garden were used in dinner. Fabric was washed, mended, and used again.
Things weren't replaced simply because they were old.
Often, age made them better.
I think that's part of why I've always loved gardening, cooking, and sewing. They all ask you to slow down enough to notice what you already have in front of you.
Caring for What We Have
So much of what we talk about at Ambrosia comes back to this simple idea.
Take care of what you have.
When I first began trying to find a better way to store fresh produce, I wasn't trying to create a company.
I simply didn't like seeing beautiful food go to waste.
I'd taken the time to choose it, bring it home, and plan meals around it. I wanted to care for it better.
That curiosity eventually became Ambrosia.
And looking back, I can see how much of the philosophy behind this little family business was shaped long before the first produce bag was ever sewn.
Passing It Along
Grandparents Day has me thinking about what we pass down.
Sometimes it's a recipe.
Sometimes it's a garden.
Sometimes it's a tablecloth, a well-used pan, or a way of folding something that you've done so many times you can't remember who first taught you.
And sometimes it's simply a way of looking at the world.
Use what you have.
Take care of it.
Share it.
And when everyone comes through the kitchen door, make room at the table.
Those are the things worth keeping.
Happy Grandparents Day.
Jan