Who am I?  Why would anyone want to read my ramblings about food?  These are the questions that have been running through my head for the last 24 hours since I started to contemplate the world of blogging.  Who cares what I have to say?  Maybe no one will care.  Maybe no one will read it.  I hope people will and I hope they enjoy it.  If they don’t it won’t be the end of the world, right?!

Well, if you just read those words then that means you want to hear what I have to say…at least for a little while…and for that THANK YOU!

Here goes nothing!

Let me tell you a little about me and why I’m doing this…

This pretty much sums up my philosophy when it comes to cooking:  “When you acknowledge, as you must, that there is no such thing as perfect food, only the idea of it, then the real purpose of striving toward perfection becomes clear: to make people happy. That’s what cooking is all about.” – Thomas Keller

I’ve grown up in a family that loves to cook.  Some of my earliest memories are of family gatherings at my Great-Grandmother Ruth’s house sitting around the table (a table which is now mine and is very special to me) enjoying a meal together.  I remember my other Great-Grandmother using every flat surface in her home (counters, tables, the washing machine) to dry homemade noodles.  The very first things I learned how to make as a child were Waldorf salad and meatloaf standing on a chair in the kitchen with my Grandpa.  As I got older, cooking was the way my Mom and I bonded.  We had all those important mother daughter talks over sizzling pans and boiling pots.  I even got to flex my culinary muscles and cook a “fancy” (in my mind anyway as a teenager) dinner for my Mom & Stepdad’s anniversary every year.  My summer vacations spent with my Dad in Virginia usually involved a big Italian meal or the long, slow, meticulous process of grilling the perfect rib.

All this being said, food to me is an expression of family.  No matter the circumstance, the act of sitting around the table and sharing a meal can and will be an experience that will create memories to last a lifetime.  In our hectic lives the event of sitting down for dinner together has gotten lost.  I challenge you to find the time.  You won’t regret it.

Food is my primary way of showing people I care about them.  I love to see someone’s face light up when they are presented with a decadent dessert.  You know you’ve hit the mark when their eyes roll back in their head and their words are incoherent!  The power of food is amazing.  Food can be healing, sensual, joyous, satisfying, comforting.  I could go on and on.  Food is a celebration: of life, of achievement, of love, of friendship, of happiness, of loss.

So, why Ruth’s Table?

My great-grandmother, Ruth, was a woman of compassion, humor and love. Her table was a place where you could laugh, cry and learn your manners. She passed away when I was young but I have vivid memories of sharing and celebrating life around the table. She instilled in all of us what it meant to be a family. Her food was not complicated but it was made with love. In her kitchen she found joy and freedom. I am inspired by her beauty and zest for life.

This is me and this is my journey: to celebrate life through the power of food.

Me and my Grandma Ruth