You know that one oversized sweatshirt that is so warm and cozy everyone fights for it, or takes turns wearing it, it just makes you feel wrapped up in a big family hug… but how does that translate to food?
Well maybe for your family it’s a perfectly roasted chicken served Sunday night, everyone around the table together, no devices just enjoying being in each other’s company.
Or maybe it’s a favourite restaurant you have, a place you go to celebrate momentous occasions, that becomes a family tradition. (Let’s all meet at Matto’s! IYKYK)
Or perhaps it’s a family recipe (complete with a secret ingredient!) hand written on an index card that gets passed down from one generation to the next. (Great Grampa’s shortbread!)
Whatever it is, it makes you feel… loved, surrounded by family, memories and well like you’ve just gotten the biggest bear hug! You know the feeling I’m talking talking about, the one you get when you’re in bed sick with the flu so you warm a bowl of delicious, comforting chicken soup and it just does it’s thing and warms you right down to your toes!
For our family it’s… well truth be told, it’s a lot of things, but it often comes back to homemade pasta. (Recurring often on my Instagram page) The guys (aka the 4 men in my life) love it and seem to understand the work and love that goes into it. They’ve participated with great energy in the making of it ever since they were little and could barely reach the counter – and still do (although they are now well higher than the counter and me for that matter!) – therefore really taking the time to savour it, and enjoying the actual experience of eating the art that is pasta on a plate (or in a bowl… depending on how you serve it!) It’s a moment we take to just slow down and not only enjoy the meal before us but also the people around the table. We check in with one another. We joke. We play. We love. We laugh. And the family pasta meals will forever be memories for me and bring me back to those special moments, make me feel like I’m wearing that cozy sweater, warm and tightly wrapped up in the biggest family bear hug.
What is your family’s “communal sweatshirt”?