Language of Love

Give me forty minutes, and I’ll whip you up a batch of cookies. Make it an hour, and I’ll throw in a beef vegetable soup. My mother taught me to cook starting at a very young age, and I learned more from my grandfather as I grew older. I have taken their recipes and made them my own. When I feel helpless, I bake for friends. If you are sick, if someone has died, I cannot make your problem go away. But I will listen to you. And I will cook for you. I speak my love in chocolate chips.

 

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Hey! Lance liked my entry for last week’s 100 Word Song contest so well that he let me pick this week’s song. I chose Dimming of the Day, one of my favorite Richard and Linda Thompson songs. Lance has Bonnie Raitt’s fabulous cover of it embedded over at the contest. Can you imagine the acrimony they set aside to sing this? My response above is not what I expected to write. Music is one of the places I turn when I’m stressed, and these songs and artists in particular. Cooking is another. So I think of the two together.

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I’m also hooking up with Shell over at Things I Can’t Say, because I haven’t poured my heart out to her in ages.

About jesterqueen:
Jessie Powell is the Jester Queen. She likes to tell you about her dog, her kids, her fiction, and her blog, but not necessarily in that order.

Comments

Language of Love — 28 Comments

  1. Very interesting take!

    My mom also used to cook to relieve the stress. Unfortunately, she's a very good cook.

    And we knew how to push her buttons.

    And we were hungry…

    • Did she then withhold the goods, or did you get fed extra to reward the bad behavior? I guess I should be glad my kids don't like my cooking yet!!

  2. I knew when this came into my inbox earlier today, I should've eaten it then. Now, I'm hungry, and I don't have any chocolate chips OR cookies………

    Great treatment on this one, Jessie.

  3. I, too, was raised by a mother (and grandmother) who were amazing cooks and had me in the kitchen helping frequently. I've just recently kind of discovered that love for myself, and I find that I'm turning to it more often for my own dose of stress therapy. And I love the expressions I get when I present others with goodies that I made for them. 🙂

    • Yes, people really appreciate the time and effort you put into a special treat or meal.

  4. I love this, this sums me up perfectly. My grandmother taught me to cook and I love making stuff for people when something is wrong. It helps!

    (And for some reason it's not letting me put in my website, but I'm over at Iffy Inklings!)

    • Hmmm. .. good to know my comments are being evil – I (may) have that fixed now. I'm still learning this system. I was terrified I'd have one of those damned captcha things!

  5. I like to cook too, and eat what I cook. I am also a good cook (at least most of the time. my picky preteen might tell you otherwise, but she is to be ignored. Ha.).

    • I pay no attention to anyone under 15 or 16 unless they happen to have well-developed palates much earlier than that. I suppose this means I will be ignoring my children well into their 30s.

  6. I'm the same way…I show love through cooking. When my babies were born several women joined forces and brought us dinners for 2 weeks and their cooking fed me emotionally as well as nutritionally. I'll never forget being cared for in that way, and I love to do the same for others.

    • There is no better way to celebrate a baby than to give food. It's the exactly one thing new parents don't have the time for.

  7. Cooking. Yep, I can relate. I relate so well that I created a different blog to post my recipes on! Cookies? Well you can never go wrong there. Food is the best celebration ever!

    • And, it turns out, I have not one but two cookie occasions this week. The first one was here in town, a friend had a pretty harrowing weekend. And today a friend I worked with at Dave's Grocery posted that his Dad died in the Ohio tornadoes. Sheesh.

  8. If you love was oatmeal raisin THEN we'd talk.

    seriously, I like the flow and feel. You did a great interpretation.

    • Oatmeal yes. Raisin? Only for others. They are one of the few cookies that are safe in the house with me. Something about the texture puts me off, I guess. Thanks again for letting me pick!

  9. Jessie, I don't like those pesky raisins in cookies. Too healthy. Give me my husband's oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies every time. They are thick, monster sized, and they have mondo amounts of chocolate!

    As for the Thompsons, I loved your comment about "the acrimony they must have set aside." It's true. I know because my ex sat in at my gig! Amy (and that's our daughter on the cajon, that little rhythm box!)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1srrmxxUFlw
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    • It's amazing what music will force a body to put up with, isnt' it? Your daughter is awesome!
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