Exploring through cooking

I was in Halifax, NS last weekend and was able to visit one of my favourite stores. Nope, it wasn't a clothing store or anything like that ( I really can't stand shopping ) It was a grocery store. Pete's Frootique. I love it so much because I can get all the awesome, strange, wonderful and  weird ingredients that I like to cook with, that I just can't find here in Yarmouth. I love walking around and taking in all the colors and smells and exotic foods from far away. And then I get to take all these wonderful things back to my kitchen and start creating.

Now this little passion of mine is not always well received by my kids. They shudder when they see the eggplant come out and they question why a lychee nut is called a nut when it really looks like a grape inside. And the poor little darlings would definitely rather have a pizza than Thai Curry Soup again. But for me, cooking is creation. I pour myself a glass of wine, light the candles, put on the jazz, and get going. In my mind I am my own cooking show. Around this house we watch Masterchef, Iron Chef, Top Chef Canada, and Top Chef Seattle among many others.  My kids know the names of Chef Michael Smith, Bobbie Flay, Gordon Ramsay and Mark Mckewan.

When I was a teenager, a friend of mine and I decided that each time we got paid we would go to the grocery store and buy something we had never tried before. So every second Friday off we went to Safeway to search out a new thing to try. It was our way of travelling to exotic places. Now, in those days ( before Internet and google ) we would actually have to go to the library to find out what some of these things were and how to eat them. ( I'm really dating myself here )  But what a privilege to be able to try things from all over the world. And how exciting to think of all the things out there left to discover.

And that's what I want for my kids. My rule is simple, you don't have to like it, you don't have to eat it, you just have to try it. That's all. I want them to know that its ok to try new things and that there is a whole world out there waiting to be discovered. And above all I want them to know that if you don't like something, that's great, but at least you can say you tried.