What's for dinner?

I read that the film Julie/Julia has put The Art of French Cooking back on the New York Times best-sellers list. While Julia did not necessarily approve of Julie's blog, I think she would have thought that this "is a good thing." Oh no, that's Martha's line.

It sometimes amazes me how much the discussion of food consumes us; and how much food we really do consume. We cook; we eat; we talk about cooking; we exchange recipes; we dine out; we throw dinner parties; we critique food; we calculate calories and nutrition; we watch food and cooking shows; we read cook books; we make documentaries; we photograph our food; and then, we obsess about our weight and coax our physicians into giving us prescription-strength anti-acids.

We drive thru; we dine leisurely; we snack; we munch; we knosh; and then, we talk about it. We can't wait to sit down for a big meal; and then, we complain that we ate too much.

We search for unique ways to use chocolate; we grow herbs; buy spices that cost a fortune and only use them once in some obscure recipe. We fill shelves with reference material and have parties themed to exchange recipes and taste the creations. We spend a small fortune on pots, pans, knives and utensils; not to mention all of the small appliances and kitchen gadgets. I have a ricer, melon baller, garlic press, apple corer(?), egg slicer, microwave egg poacher and at least 20 other "whatchamacallits" that I bought, used once and they now sit in drawers. I have enough plates, serving dishes, platters, glasses and bowls to open my own restaurant. Somewhere in my life I learned that you can never have "too many" sets of china.

My family was, and is, a bunch of foodies. We gather at kitchen and dining tables; coffee tables and picnic benches. I was fifteen years old before I realized that I could actually go to the beach without ten pounds of potato salad, a grill and 25 people. Some people went to the beach for the sun and surf, we went for the "beach food". We each have our specialties: some are wonderful, some are not very good - but, we expect it to be served on whatever holiday, setting or feast it has been designated to be served.

Easy as pie. Smooth as butter. The best thing since sliced bread. Sweet as sugar. It's all gravy. Pie in the sky. Crack the nut. He's a crunchy-granola, old hippie. Food defines us. I'm a low sugar, low sodium, carb free person (not really, but I'm told I should be). My sister is allergic to cheese and shell fish. One of my nieces won't eat canteloupe. My friend's husband will only eat canned peas and corn. I used to serve salad with cucumbers and tomatoes on the side so my father wouldn't have to pick them out. This one doesn't eat meat; the other one won't eat fish. Food preferences can make a simple visit a huge production. Because. . .we MUST eat something together; it's what we do.

With that said, I think I'll make something to eat and then make my grocery shopping list. Hmmmm, what will I eat for dinner?