Day 143 Celebrations

I'll be the first to admit the summer is tough for me. There were so many things once upon a time to celebrate during the summer. Now, for the most part those celebrations are far and removed from my everyday life, yet the ghosts of those bygone days are still with me.

Maybe it's a female thing, or maybe a particular personality type, but I can remember special events as if they happened yesterday. There are times when that is a real blessing. When I'm alone, it's a real curse.

My daughter reminds me that we often celebrated with food. It's true. Birthdays usually involved the birthday individual selecting a favorite meal to have prepared. Around my house that was things like homemade macaroni and cheese, or tacos. There were years where special cakes were requested.  I remember a strawberry spring - and it wasn't centered on the Strawberry Shortcake miniature dolls.  There was a year I made an "army" cake complete with a Jeep and tank.  One year I decorated a cake like it was a shirt and tie for my brother-in-law.


I'm not sure why we celebrate with food. It's certainly something my family did growing up.  It may extend far back into the reaches of history when there was no money and to make the day special you did something with the food you had.  Today it is almost a celebration of excess.

Here it seems like there is something to "celebrate" every month. It goes something like this:
January - Hew Year's day, birthday
February - Valentine's Day
March/April - Good Friday and/or Easter
May - birthday, Memorial Day, Mother's Day
June - Father's Day

July - Independence day, birthday, anniversary
August - birthday
September - Labor day
October - Halloween
November - birthday, Thanksgiving
December - Christmas, New Year's eve

Generally, I have to say all these occasions are celebrated with some sort of special food, or food outing.

Back in the ancient of days, my birthday was celebrated with a trip to a local amusement park. It was the family outing for the summer. Back then you could bring a picnic lunch and not have to purchase expensive concessions. Today a trip to the amusement park costs a small fortune for a family of five or six. Add in concessions and you've spent a good chunk of a paycheck.

It got me thinking, how do you get away from celebrating with food?

In all honesty, I don't think you can.  It feels like it is written into our DNA. So, if you can't get away from it (since we are all supposed to eat three meals a day minimally) what can you do?

Any more food celebrations are getting more difficult with so many people with allergies and intolerances. What if we took celebration time and used it as an opportunity to try new foods - perhaps some of those recipes we hear are so good for us but we won't try because they have an unusual ingredient or something else we view as a deterrent.  What if we took the money, the extra money we spend on the "favorites" and used it to buy that piece of sugar cane, or the Chinese five spices, or something else, and made a new creation as a part of the celebration. A creation of a new food, taste, flavor, and built the anticipation for - oooh, what is s/he going to come up with next?

What if one of my kids wanted tacos as their favorite meal? What could I do to change that up some, make it healthier yet still taste yummy? What if I heated tortillas on the griddle rather than fry them? What if I tried new seasoning in the meat mixture, or a different type of cheese, or put slices of avocado in each taco?

What if I made a different sort of mac cheese. Substituted almond milk for dairy, or used quinoa instead of elbows? What if I used the mac cheese as a side dish and came up with a completely new entree that the mac cheese could compliment?

Wouldn't being creative in the use of "favorites" be a real gift to the recipient? Something that would make a special day stand out all the more?

Hmmm. I think I may be on to something.  Let's see, I have a little time before Labor day and the next birthday to think of something celebratory and fun and festive, reminiscent of the former days, yet something new.  I think this is a challenge I can accept. 

Now to remember it in time for the next special occasion!