I love dark chocolate, I love basil, I love peaches, I love blackberries.
I love Olive Garden. I love raspberry ice cream in a big waffle cone with sprinkles. At my old house, we had a garden, we had a huge garden. We grew string beans and pumpkins and mint and huge, juicy tomatoes that Arden and I would just pick and eat right there, like you eat an apple. I love tomatoes.
I once cooked an entire box of macaroni and cheese and ate the whole thing. It was one of the best macaroni and cheeses I have ever had.
I went out to brunch with a friend once and had the most incredible breakfast I have ever had. It was triangular pieces of coconut-encrusted French toast topped with strawberries, and bananas, and blueberries, and raspberries. And it was served with the sweetest freshest syrup, and butter, but not just any butter… maple butter. I love maple.
I like lettuce, it tastes like water and like wet.
I like ginger ice cream from the Thai restaurant.
I like crepes, the kind with nutella from France.
I love crispy baguettes with cheese, or a light spread of butter. When I was in Scandinavia on a music tour – I play the violin – I remember being in Norway and having the best cup of hot chocolate I have ever had. Never before had I drank hot chocolate from a super wide mug, the kind of hot chocolate with decorated swirls on the top. And it was perfect.
I love s’mores, and camping with my family on Assateague Island and Blue Rocks campground. I love veggie dogs that remind me of the fourth of july, and biting in to one and mustard squirting out on to my lips, and wearing tank tops by the pool, and fireworks, and grills, and the woods. I love vanilla fudge from the Fudge Kitchen in Stone Harbor, NJ, where I spent many summers with my family. I love my Aunt Trish’s green bean casserole, and Thanksgiving, and Christmas, and my cousins and aunts and uncles, and my Grammy and Grampy. I love avocados and guacamole, that remind me of my friends, and Jason Mraz, and studying for final exams this May in Callie’s backyard.
I love the pancakes my dad makes.
I love the Double Stuf Oreos and crackers and Havarti with Dill cheese I always have at Hilary’s house.
Sometimes it seems like no one is probably even reading this; why am I writing about all of this stuff that seems meaningless; why just ramble about all the foods that I like to eat? But I guess my point is that I love limeade and I love avocado sushi and I love strawberries… oh I love strawberries. I love food. Some days I dream of being a chef, of owning a restaurant and cooking and baking and making people smile, like food makes me smile. Some days I dream of working for Kashi and touring the world searching for cocoa beans or chili peppers or new exotic flavors. I’m the kind of person that can’t say no; I can’t say no to the last bite, I can’t even say no to the first bite. For me, it’s worth the nauseous full feeling a few minutes later. I’m the kind of person who can be having a day where nothing is going right, but when I bite into a blueberry bagel toasted with cream cheese, everything seems alright.
Find what makes you smile. Because it is these little and seemingly meaningless things that are truly full of meaning, that let you enjoy a little moment of perfection, that bring you back to family and summer and parties and other countries and moments where you were filled with sublime joy.
Enjoy,
be happy,
☼Brooke
