Peace with Butternut Squash, Butter, and Cream

Beautifully cooked food blankets the soul with a sense of peace. It is a peace that is designed to be shared.

Mom, Grandma, and all home cooks from previous generations created food that brought the entire family home to one shared purpose. With the simple act of eating together, differences were put aside, albeit briefly, and with only a few jabs under the table. That is the power of home cookery.

Home cooked meals bind families together, as if the butter and cream were glue. The meal says this is what my family eats together. It is one reason why people get so very attached to the manner in which they eat and often quite stridently so, as if any single disagreement is an attack on the group and on the cook.

Peace in Greece Pasta

We had pasta in the pantry. But, we have also had a lot of Italian meals of late. I skimmed my cookery books, searched the internet, and went through my somewhat but not quite orderly files, and not a one said "You must make me just like this." However a bunch of recipes said, "Oh look! Why don't you use this or that from this idea?" Others said "well, I'd be much better if you only added these things and took out that thing." They were starting to cause quite a ruckus and I was not about to allow the violence to escalate. So, I decided it was time, once more, to Declare World Peace with Pasta. I let all of the nice recipes contribute a little something, added some ideas of my own, and ended up with Peace in Greece.

a mountain of yumminess

Peace in Greece Pasta

This peace filled recipe is dedicated to a fellow Peace Blogger that passed away today (January 29, 2012): Sarge Charlie was a retired Army man that understood the importance of peace.

The Aroma of Peace

Today is BlogBlast for Peace. Bloggers everywhere are sending out peace globes such as this one and blogging their thoughts on peace.

Words can be so very healing. I think food and aromas heal in a deeper way as they are capable of triggering intense primal emotions and memories.

We all have foods we think of as comfort foods - foods that feed more than just our bellies and fill us with more than just a list of nutrition facts.

Aromas also trigger emotional memories. The best aromas churn up memories of quiet, peaceful, or beautiful times. Right now, my fingers hold the pungent aroma of fresh picked basil and parsley. With each sniff I am reminded of times in the garden - planting, watering, and selecting parts of my dinner from the plants that survive my often lackadaisical care.

I have the aroma of peace in the tips of my fingers.

Peace and Pappardelle

Any day that promotes peace should include a peaceful offering at the table. On this most excellent day, when bloggers world wide are writing BlogBlasts for Peace, it struck me that if the entire world could sit down together and enjoy a purposefully mindful and peaceful meal, world peace could be achieved in one evening. Mindful and peacefully prepared, served, and consumed food is a balm for mind and soul, so today, I will prepare Peace and Pappardelle. Please join me and serve a peace-filled meal tonight.