Whole Slow Food

My copy of the book, In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollen arrived somewhere around Feb. 23, 2008. It took about a day of reading it for my life to be transformed.

Since that day we have been eating whole foods, mostly plants, not too much. No more processed foods. What a difference! Already we are losing weight by having our bodies recover naturally via the food and slower living and eating that they were meant to experience. More energy, spring in our steps. Happier. (Caroline said, "It's like before eating bad food kept us in a constant state of badness and now the good food makes us happy.") Sleeping sounder.

Nothing hard. Nothing forced. Nothing but enjoying the cooking of whole foods, eating with beautiful table settings, and not rushing through the meals. Lingering to visit and just relax. We actually look forward to meals with excitement, not just the filling of empty bellies.

Tom came home from work yesterday while I was stirring the clotted cream for the last time. He asked what it was and took a little taste. Then, he glanced over and saw the homemade wheat egg noodles. He said slowly, "I have to tell you something. I am tired of going to work. And this doesn't help. I want to stay home and eat this." It was funny. I told him that we were going to be eating the foods when he was here just as always, but today he had to go a luncheon, so left for work before lunch. He was to go to his favorite restaurant, Hole in the Wall BBQ. He said he'd rather eat the food we were planning.

Like I said - big difference!

I actually feel like cooking and baking again. I feel like my creativity is honored, the foods enjoyed, that there is beauty in what I do. It's not just fueling up. Eating is VERY important. And what I do to feed us is every bit as important as Tom's job, and we both have the skills necessary to do our jobs.

At last. I'm home.