Cooking Skills Intact

Our short summer has given itself up to the rain. Every year with the arrival of Autumn comes my renewed desire to feed the people I love warm, satisfying meals around a nicely set table.


 In Autumns past, a large portion of those loved ones resided with me inside the same house. In the stretch of a few short months, change has come. My son, twenty-one and ready to be on his own, began the re-arranging process by announcing one day that he was moving out with some friends. A week later, we had an empty bedroom. Wow! That was quick! Four short months later, and literally within days of each other, we moved our youngest daughter to college and married off our eldest. You could say it was a busy stretch of time, really quite a blur when I think about it.


Fast forward to a couple of days ago when I decided to find out whether or not my culinary skills had vacated along with my kids. I would start small, just Sunday dinner with our immediate family which now happily includes our son-in-law, in case it was a bad disaster. Kids are fairly forgiving and sons-in-law, having not had one until now, I can't really say but my guess is he would probably just smile and eat it anyway.


After a pleasant afternoon of re-acquainting myself with my kitchen we sat down to dinner, minus my son who had other dinner plans.  The roast was tender, the potatoes and carrots nicely roasted and the gravy was smooth. The cooked apples could have used a little more cinnamon but no one complained. The rolls were golden and fragrant and didn't burn on the bottom and performed their usual disappearing act. Vegetable lovers enjoyed the salad and others just politely passed it on. All in all, it was a comfortable, delicious meal eaten with people I love to cook for. When I looked over at my husband, I think I detected a look of relief. Perhaps he was afraid my culinary skills had moved on as well.