Cook and Book

Last Sunday night at 5:30 pm, my kitchen was busy. Yes, my kitchen is usually a pretty rockin' place around that time of day, but the last Sunday night of each month at this time, it's a different sort of busy. Instead of several kids running around or hovering while they pick at the food, last Sunday night the kitchen was full of sweet, smiling women. They are my "young" friends, but not, as was pointed out here because I am old. They are all in their 20's, some are newly married, some are new moms, all are so sincere. They are in our home for something called "Cook and Book" and it is one of my favorite times of each month.

Cook and Book started one night when a young couple from our church was over for dinner. The gal and I were in the kitchen getting dinner finished up and chatting. She shared with me that she felt out of place in the kitchen. She so wanted to make good food for her husband because she knew he would appreciate it, but she hadn't grown up cooking or even seeing her Mom cook. Her comments kept coming back to me over the next month or two and, after some prayer, Cook and Book came to be.

It is really quite simple. I plan something that we'll all cook together and something that we'll discuss/study while we eat. I have the recipe and all it's variations printed out so they can take them home to "Wow" their husbands. We usually have between 3-7 gals each Sunday.

When the Big Guy and I were first married, I could hold my own in the kitchen (thank you, Mom). However, if it didn't have a recipe and the exact ingredients needed to make said recipe - I was sunk. A last minute trip to the grocery store was needed, but usually what happened was a trip to a restaurant. Not real great for the budget. As time went on and we went to Semin ary where our restuarant budget was nil, I learned to cook yummy economical food and even do so without a recipe. I have More-With-Less Cookbook this to thank.

This is what I wanted the gals to learn: how to feed their families with good basic food that they would usually have on hand or that could be gotten for cheap. I probably could have made up things on my own, but thankfully, I didn't have to. The ironically named book, "How to Cook Without a Book: Recipes and Techniques Every Cook Should Know by Heart," was just perfect. I love this cook book and have used it to select what we cook for many of our nights together.

What we study has come from their suggestions, things God has been working in my life and this verse from Titus 2:3-5:

3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be
slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4 Then they
can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be
self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to
their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

While our cooking feeds their families' stomachs, I pray that our discussions feed their souls. We've talked about praying for our husbands, self-discipline (this was one of my things), prayer in general, being sober women, what it means to "malign" or "blaspheme" the word of God and the list goes on. Of course, lots of our conversation is just about life and is just plain fun.

It is so fun to hear them tell me they bought kale at the grocery store or that their omelet turned out perfect. It is music to my ears to have their husbands tell me the tomato sauce from scratch is their favorite. It is a blessing to me to see God at work in their lives and mine.