Meal Maestro

When I was fresh out of college, all my friends got married. Every. Single. One. Of. Them.

Okay that might be a slight exaggeration. But not much. I assure you.

My friend Christina was the first, and I was honored to be a bridesmaid in her wedding...and honored to receive the stack of bridal magazines she no longer needed once her big day had passed. In those first days, fresh out of college, homework, and a boyfriend, I spent hours on the bedroom floor, sifting through the pages, ripping out pages of dresses and hairstyles I loved so much.

For my own wedding.

In twelve years.

But in addition to that girly little practice, I also ripped out pages that I put in a scrapbook to give to my someday boyfriend...pages that exemplified what I hoped to enjoy in a someday relationship.

One of them...in fact, one of the very first pages I ripped out...was a picture of a woman's face, with these words: "And the journey begins. You're a future daughter-in-law, a keeper of new family recipes, a soul mate, the family's favorite restaurant, a late meal maestro. It begins."

Granted, in that season of life, my best meals came wrapped in papers stamped with "Taco Bell," and a "home cooked meal" meant a baked potato.

But there was something so exciting to me about the possibility of one day being a real cook. One who could prepare meals for someone...meals that would be ours...meals that his family would appreciate too.

I eventually learned to cook something more than a baked potato and eat more than Taco Bell cuisine.

And God answered that prayer mightily. It really was a prayer - just masked in a rubber cemented scrapbook page.

Ryan has embraced this keeper of the family recipes...and made it a joy to cook for him, and a bonus I didn't even expect...with him.

I just started reading Shauna Niequist's book Bread and Wine...where she talks about the life, joy, and memories that take place around the table. And that has inspired me to make a scrapbook of meals in Shafferland. I've already started...creating pages of memories of places we've eaten since our wedding in December, and next I'll tackle adding the recipes we love to eat most during this first year of marriage.

It's another dream come true. Being a meal maestro...so let the journey begin.