Day 50: An Experience

I love entertaining so much. There's something about cooking for a group of people that's a weird combination of stressful, peaceful, exciting and calming. When I'm in the kitchen, the rest of the world doesn't seem to matter. All that matters is the food turning out right and working together.

Arguably more importantly, when I entertain, I eat. I really get into the food, more than I do when I cook for just the family, and I can't wait to dig in. Maybe it's because I tend to cook much more intricate meals when I entertain. I don't know what it is, but whenever I cook for people (immediate family excluded), I eat with people. It becomes an experience.

Food has to be an experience for me. It's the only way I'll go for it. (Cravings count as an experience.) So I need to start working on making it more of an experience.

Today, I am grateful for:

• left overs. It was nice to not have to cook today, but I still got to eat good food that was fairly healthy for me.
• Amy buying a ticket to come here! I am so excited! Seriously, planning has already begun.
• grabbing crack fries and watching soccer with my mom.
• my mother's enthusiasm for having more neighbors come over for dinner next week. She's been really supportive.
• having a day to recover from yesterday. It was fun but super tiring.