My mother thinks I am totally insane and taking “this food thing much too far.” I’m sure some of my friends think so too, but at least they are polite enough not to tell me so.

The other day my mom called while the pizza dough was rising, and I told her I was making a pizza. She was making a pizza too, as it turned out. She’d bought some canned dough, a bag of toppings, and a bottle of pizza sauce. No better than a frozen pizza, but three times the work, I say. She couldn’t believe I was making the dough, the sauce, and cutting all the toppings. Pure insanity! Why do all that when you can buy the stuff to make a pizza?! Well, why not!

Then I told her we were going shopping at the farmers market to buy our meat and veggies and maybe even cheese and some home canned goods, and that I had found a grain mill in Waco to get Texas wheat flour from. She declared it was utterly preposterous to have to go to a number of places to get everything when it’s all right there at the HEB.

She asked how much time I spend on food every day. I hadn’t really thought about it, but I guessed it to be about three or four hours. I could hear her jaw drop in the silence that followed. What the hell else do I have to do after the rest of the housework is done? Watch soap operas like she does? Not hardly. I don’t watch TV during the day. Sure, extra time fussing with food does take time away from my artsy-crafty stuff, but I haven’t much been in the mood to work on any of that anyway.

Finally, I was lectured on how I had best buy a few pre-processed insta-foods to have in the house, just in case I didn’t feel like cooking. Sounds like a great idea, right? Well what I have noticed this week, a week without any insta-foods in the house at all, is on those days when I don’t feel like cooking and there isn’t anything to pop into the microwave, I somehow manage to start cooking … and I find I don’t really mind cooking at all. I seem to have adapted just fine to cooking even when tired or not feeling well or just plain lazy.

It’s true. I don’t have to spend as much time on food as I do. I could make simpler meals, but I prefer to create a restaurant quality meal for dinner every night and twice a day on weekends. I love cooking and being in the kitchen! I love being able to hand Lin a plate of food I know tastes and looks good and isn’t just some one-pot wonder. Though there isn’t anything wrong with casseroles and such, and that’s what I have been doing on those days when I really don’t feel like cooking. I still take great care with them though. They aren’t your standard Hamburger Helper.

I guess if you don’t love to cook it’s hard to imagine wanting to be in the hot and steamy kitchen for hours, and I guess if knowing about the state of food imports and food quality and additives doesn’t freak you out about what you are eating, it’s probably hard to imagine wanting to put in the effort to visit several places to buy your groceries. What’s silly though is that my mom wasn’t raised in a world of instant food or fast food restaurants. Hell, she didn’t even have TV dinners until she was married. So you’d think she’d at least remember what it was like to live on a farm and eat really fresh healthy food all the time. For heaven’s sake, she milked a goat every morning, and that’s what they drank at breakfast! But she thinks I am losing my mind and taking things too far.

Whatever. I see it more as going back to the way things used to be when food was food and not a pile of chemicals with some natural flavorings added.

But then, my mom didn’t get the cooking gene at all, so I guess she just can’t understand. I wish she could. She really needs to eat better, but I’m not going to be the one to convince her … though I am going to take her some homemade bread and a homemade pizza the next time I go over there. We’ll see if she still thinks I am crazy after tasting it. :)