Hellobee Boards

Yes in the sense that they never allow me to get picky with food; I have to eat whatever's given to me so I think that helped me develop a general tolerance/like of all kinds of food.

No, not really. We were a pretty white-bread house : Hamburger Helper was a staple.

But when I think of cooking I'm always transported back to my grandmother's kitchen. There's bacon sizzling in a cast iron grill pan on the stove. I'm kneeling on a stool at her island counter, probably with flour on my face, and I'm watching her make biscuits. She uses an old coffee mug to measure out flour and eyeballs the salt and baking powder. She lets me help rub butter into the flour (always with our fingers, never with a pastry cutter or forks). In goes the buttermilk, eyeballed until it "looked right". Kneaded by hand (I got to help with that too) until it "felt right" (this is still how I make biscuits!) Patted and cut out with a juice glass.

My grandmother didn't teach me how to cook, but I LOVE to cook now, and she's one of the reasons why. Cooking makes me feel connected to her, and to her mother, and her mother's mother, and so on and so forth back. When I cook, especially when it's completely from scratch, I have a very real sense of belonging to a long line of women (and some men) who make magic merely by mixing ingredients together to make something delicious and nourishing.

All that said--I love food and cooking but I'm actually a sort of picky eater The smell of most seafood makes me gag!

Yes! I've never been a picky eater. My husband was very picky and only became adventurous in our relationship. I really hope or daughter grows up enjoying food. I've never had an unhealthy relationship with food, which I think is uncommon for women who so often feel the need to restrict. I hope she has a similar experience.

@snowjewelz: This, exactly. I ate what they ate, and I'm so happy that I grew up that way because I'm far from a picky eater (aside from the fact that I no longer eat meat/fish, but that had nothing to do with them).