Creating and Reliving A Memory

For those of you who know my wife are very familiar with her emphasis on creating memories.  She is right. I greatly admire her understanding on why this is important.  She makes it a real priority.

I thought about that over Christmas.  And now I can offer a suggestion.  In all honesty this is more about reliving a memory than actually creating one. But, if you cook with your kids, you maybe able to create a memory.

If you read my previous post, you know my mom gave me a cooking lesson . Why is this important?  Before Christmas I did not cook.  My father gave me several easy recipes. His cook brief (it is too short to be a book) is also very humorous.

Now I do cook and I am enjoy it.  On New Years Eve I made Riz-Bi-Dfeen. It is a Lebanese dish consisting primarily of chicken, rice, onions, and chick peas.  It takes a while to cook. 

My mother suggests buying broth to add flavor. I decided to make the chicken broth from scratch. You can do this as you boil the chicken.  Just add carrots, onions and celery.

An important point, when I went home for Christmas, the Lebanese food was already cooked.  That is smart, saves time. 

Years ago I read that smell is a very powerful memory trigger.  As I made Riz-Bi-Dfeen, the chicken  was boiling and the broth was brewing I would take the lid off to see how it was.  The smell was overwhelming.  It brought back numerous memories of my Sitie (Lebanese for grandmother) and Mom cooking Arabic foods.  All of the memories were when I was a boy growing up in Midland.  For just a moment, it was like my family was in the kitchen with me.  I could recall voices and laughter.  It could have been my mother, Sitie Aunt Pegi, and sister or it could have been my Sitie teaching my future wife how to cook Lebanese cuisine.  I am not sure, but it does not matter. It sure makes me want to cook again. Yes, this is sappy.  But I suspect recalling fond memories does that to most sane people (my loyal readers included).

My mother, wife, and other people have an old cookbook titled "The Joy of Cooking." I doubt the book reminds us that the sense of smell can people relive wonderful memories.