UNITED STATES—I just had a great day recently and it was all spent with family. We haven’t had a day like this in a very long time. Why was it important? A family member who moved out of state, came to visit for several days and she cooked up some amazing dishes. When I say epic, I mean just epic. We had chicken and dumplings. Now I know what plenty of you are thinking, when it comes to dumplings you are talking about the kind that are in the canned soup.
Oh, no people, I’m referring to some homemade dumplings with actual homemade broth, real white meat chicken breast, and dumplings made from scratch. Yes, things may have been a bit labor intensive, but they were so much fun to make, watch them be made and see my family laugh in the process. It has been a tough few months with just a bevy of stress to deal with at times.
There is just a lot cooking and at times, it places you on an emotional rollercoaster that you just wish you could have a moment to breathe and I felt like I had the opportunity to laugh and laughter is always great for the heart and brain. It just brings levity to life and the small stuff you just find a way to not sweat it anymore.
Now I will admit when those dumplings were fully complete, I didn’t even eat any. I wanted to save them for a later time. However, my aunt crafted up some Chicken Curry that literally knocked me out of my seat. It has always been a dish that I haven’t been able to master. Why? I never knew how to get things started. However, I am someone who is a visual learner. I have to see something in order to master it. Just writing something down and expecting me to master it; doesn’t work, it never has.
So when I witnessed the spices utilized and how my aunt started to craft the dish it clicked in my head. My first thought, “What, it’s not as complicated as I thought it was?!” It is a little bit of this, a little bit of that and it is just all about allowing the flavors to mesh and meld. Yes, some dishes just cannot be rushed and the fact that I have realized that I am going to try to cook this dish on my own in the current week.
Yes, I was doing my happy dance eating that Chicken Curry when it was all done. That broth was literally to die for, and I slurped every single drop of it. Then to add a bit of white rice to help soak up the broth with that chicken. It was just sensational, and I was like, “Sorry mom, aunt’s dish is way better than what you’ve cooked.” Was she offended? No, my mom knows there are some dishes she can craft with ease, that my aunt can’t do and vice versa.
That was not the end of it. We had homemade biscuits, when I say homemade, I mean just that. From scratch and I was in literal heaven. It is near impossible to make perfect biscuits, but these were perfection. Perfectly cooked, soft and buttery on the inside and then I had a fried piece of chicken tender on the side, Jeez, this was beyond delicious. That particular recipe I didn’t master it because I didn’t watch as much as I should have. I wish I did because I do like to bake and I feel like in another life I was a culinary chef/genius.
Yes, cooking is my happy time because I get in the zone and I cooking with people who know how to cook is great conversation and lots of fun. When the day was over all we could say is that we have to do this again and cook other dishes, maybe dive down the Italian, Mexican or Asian cuisine. Did I eat a lot? Not really it was more nibbles here and there, but I did feel like tons of nibbles that was good and bad. Long story short, family is so vital to your overall mental health. The more time you spend the better, and having food only sweetens the pot.
Written By Jason Jones
