Let me Tell you a Tale....

by Elizabeth Jarrard

Let me tell you a story that starts with a simple sentence, that can be loaded with meanings. love food.

My brain is full of fond food memories, like rolling out homemade cinnamon rolls with my mom, and smelling sugar and butter laced air waft through the kitchen as we waited for dad to wake up on a lazy Sunday. yes i realize this is bread. i couldn't find the cinnamon roll picture. you get the idea

I could spend my entire life reminiscing over meals if I wanted to. Little things like to piling ketchup on Irish Patsy's at grandma’s house in the abandoned mining town of Butte Montana to sharing crepes so saturated with Grand Mariner in Nice that 2 bites later we were feeling tipsy. Being surprised on my 17^th birthday by my Thai classmates to a huge party at a Korean Hot Pot restaurant in the middle of Bangkok.Diving face first into a watermelon post 20 mile training run in the middle of marathon season, carbo-loading with sweet potatoes and quinoa. The simple goodness of a weekday stirfry to the complex flavors of a 5 course gourmet meal, all adored. Food parties, events, meals, drinks, the way to my heart is possibly through good food.

But even more than I love food, I love talking to people about food and hearing their food story. Our food story isn’t the entire story of being, but since food is the sustenance of life, it often comes front-and center. Our view of the world can be reflected in our food choices. You vote with your fork and share your soul at least three times a day in what you include or exclude in your meals. Since this is often a topic of conversation for me, I have found very few people in the world who have ALWAYS 100% listened to their hungers, who have felt completely guiltless about their eating. Often eating is only intuitive and carefree when we are very young, when the mere existence of a petite strawberry is all you need to be happy.

i know, my fashion sense started at a young age. love the complimentary patterns, right?

What happened in between that time and now? And how can we get back to eating Guiltlessly?? Well the process is different for everyone, but hopefully we can grow and learn from each other. And I believe that starts with sharing your food story. Appreciating the good AND bad days, and learning more about yourself from that.

Join the conversation-what does your food story say about you? Tell me one of your favorite food memories!