This is my friend LeAnn Rice. She’s an amazing woman, mom, servant leader, friend, and so much more. She’s one of the most beautiful people I know – inside and out! She loves like Jesus in every way. And she’s an incredible cooker!
Cookers are the kind of people who like to cook.
I’m not a cooker. But I grew up in a family of cookers. My mom is a cooker. My dad is a great cooker, and my brothers love to be in the kitchen cooking. My oldest brother is even a trained chef.
When I was growing up, there was no reason or room in the kitchen for me to cook. I did everyone a favor and stayed outside chasing boys and butterflies. Then one day I got married and discovered my husband’s love-language is food.
During our first week home from our honeymoon I tried to tap into my lineage of cookers and whip up a traditional meal I’d grown up eating. I was from New Orleans. Surely I could remember what went into red beans and rice: red beans, rice, sausage, and red wine, right?
I wish you could have been there to taste and smell my creation. However, you might have been carded if you had come for dinner that night. I’m pretty sure my newlywed husband got drunk just walking through the front door of our apartment. I think I poured the whole bottle of wine into my “I will just make it up as I go” red beans and rice.
Needless to say, when I asked JJ if he liked the special meal I cooked for him, he sheepishly told me I didn’t have to cook such fancy things and I wouldn’t need to try making this one again. Bless his Pennsylvania heart, he just wanted meatloaf and potatoes.
I’m still not much of a cooker, but I do love to cook for my peeps. Over the past 17 years, I’ve learned a few thing about cooking. First I learned that recipes are a good idea. And that trying to impress my family with fancy fixings is not. They just want their favorites. Simple is best, and homemade speaks volumes of love.
My friend LeAnn invited me to guest post on her website She Cooks. I didn’t have much to say so I simply shared my homemade chicken noodle soup recipe. It’s yummy, I promise. My son Joshua even wrote about it in a poem for his literature class last year. He said I could show it to you here:
Where I am From
I am from being outside.
I am from friends playing together.
I am from trampolines and wooden forts.
I am from imaginations combining together to create something marvelous.
I am from early Christmas mornings in front of the fire.
I am from Halloween in the back of a pickup.
I am from Easters at Grandmas.
I am from Uncle Bill’s lake on the 4th of July.
I am from red beans and rice while watching Moby Dick with a friend.
I am from eating huge piles of cheese fries from Outback with a former NFL player.
I am from crawfish and crab at Grandpa’s house after catching them.
I am from homemade chicken noodle soup that could be mistaken to be from heaven.
I am from mistakes and successes.
I am from fun times and sad times.
I am from wonderful memories.
I am from a wonderful life.
And it’s not even halfway done.
©2009, Joshua Swope.
Did you see how he mentioned his momma’s chicken noodle soup!? And used the word “heaven” in the same sentence. Now that’s progress for a non-cooker wanna be mom. Yes, he also mentioned red beans and rice. He grew up on Zataran’s, without the wine.
Well friend, I don’t know if you’re a cooker. I just know family and friends love when we cook for them. There’s just something about the smells and feelings that spread through the kitchen when memories are made around the table, across the counter or over the stove. It’s so special that sometimes our cookin’ even gets mentioned in poems written by boys about life and the things they love!
I can’t be much help in the cooking department, so that’s why I want you to meet my friend LeAnn. She’s got all kinds of encouragement and wonderful recipes that will make your mouth water! But before I send you off to her site, be sure to enter to win a copy of her fabulous e-book “Sharing Grace.”
It’s full of memory-making inspiration and wonderful recipes. Just click on the word “comments” below this post and tell me if you are a cooker or not, what your family likes to eat, or memories you’ve made over meals. And if you’ve ever gotten someone drunk or sick with your cookin’, ‘d love to hear all about that!
That’s all you’ve got to do to be entered to win, and be sure to include your email or I won’t be able to tell you. Also, last week’s winner of Jill Beran’s book “Letters from Leanne“ is Anonymous who posted at 11:54pm. Jill will be in touch to get your address.
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I wish I was a cooker. Years ago when I was not working outside our home I was a cooker. Or at least I say I was. But now my family is happy with pizza!!! I do cook but I wouldn't say Mon-Fri that I enjoy it. Now on days where we have no where to be I would like to think that I transfigure into a cooker. But then I was informed by my 15yr old that homemade country gravy is not technically homemade if it comes in a pack and you just add water!
I am not much of a cooker. I grew up with a professionlly trained mother who cooked and baked like the pro she was– but only the meat and potatoes kind of meals (we're from PA too), oh, but the deserts! Mom can no longer cook anything, and the most I do these days is also Dinty Moore and bisquits. Fall and Winter do bring out my desire to learn new recipes…. lots of pot lucks at church! Susan Tomlinson
I AM a cooker and I'm addicted to my crock pot 🙂 I love to hear everyone oooh and aaah as they come in the door from school or work to delicious smells that were easy to put together and healthy for us all. My favorite time of day is dinner time, with all of us around the table as a family. With 4 children and busy schedules sometimes it isn't every night, but I try to make it happen as often as possible! (now that football and soccer are finished it is much better!)
One of my favorite things is to prepare a meal WITH my children (ages 6 to 11). It is easy time for chatting and also teaching a valuable life skill. Often the kids not interested in helping will sit at the high counter and hang out with us anyway. I love it!
Blessings to you 🙂
Thank you, Renee for your contributions to P31. Often the daily devos are my lifeline.
Kim
I am a cooker and would love to win the ebook.
[email protected]
Well, I misunderstoo and left a comment for the giveaway on FB…didn't mind giving my email address..it is pretty public knoweldge for the most part. I am not a cooker…have kept a husband happy for 41 years…and he has only refused to eat anything I've fixed and that was when we first got married, I think. Anyway, my mother was a cooker and a great cook….this book sounds great…Mary Lou at dlowran1(at)comcast(dot)net
The chicken noodle soup sounds awesome! And the poem was wonderful. Thanks for sharing both.
Yes, I would consider myself a cooker. I grew up in a family of cookers too, and we love to spend our time just cooking and discussing life. However, even though I'm not a poor cook I tried to make a pork chop dinner for my new husband within the first week of us being married and I burned them completely. He was nice but still honest that it wasn't my best meal and perhaps I would do better the next time I cooked pork chops. Well I didn't, and I've decided to leave the pork chop cooking to him. Which he happens to be a great cook and a great man that God has truly blessed me with.
Thanks so much for this post. Food and meals can be so comforting. I know that cooking with my mama and eating dinner together are some of my favorite memories from my childhood.
I am a sometimes cooker. I have a photo album from my first year of marriage. My husband loves to show anyone the photo of the burnt chocolate chip cookies I made for him in that first year. I now have foolproof tools to help me make wonderful cookies – particularly the cooking stone I now use. [email protected]
HI Renee!!
I love reading your stories, such an inspiration!
I am a cooker, but I'm even more a baker. I love cooking/baking and making food for friends and family. My lastest "hit" is I have been making homemade bread and everyone loves it. I've even had requests to make bread for others! Then my oven broke! Lol.. Makes it a bit more difficult! My husbands favorite meals are Chicken and rice with Artichoke Cream Sauce and Chicken Enchiladas, and I've recently discovered I make quite good Asain cusine. I wasn't expecting that, but gave it a go and it worked! Lol 🙂
God Bless,
Jessica
I am a cooker and a cookbook lover! :0)
I am a COOKER! I love to try new recipes. Some of our favorite's are fried rice, burritos-tacos( anything with tortillas). On cold days we LOVE homemade soups, zucchini soup is our FAVORITE! It is one my grandma made when I was young.When we are busy with sports we do alot of Crock-Pot recipes. We can't forget about one of our top favorites- Grilled food is AMAZING! My son loves that the best. When we grill we all go in the back-yard and play catch with the football and play horseshoes =) I really enjoy teaching my children how to cook. I let them pick somethng out of a cook book or one of their favorites and we will make it. Our favorite recipes would be the ones that came from My Grandmother. I would love to win your book because- My family and I love to make new meals. Thank you so much for sharing your story. I hope you enjoyed mine. May God bless you in all you do. With Love and Prayers. Shawnia.Phil.4:13
I'm also not a cooker. My mom, her mom and my sister are…but me, not so much. I wanna be though. I have so many memories, especially around Thanksgiving and Christmas time, that involve family favorite meals. I also have found memories from growing up that included the steadiness of sitting down at the table with my family at 5:00 every single day for a meal shared together.
I'm grown up now and my daughter has an eating disorder so food and family has taken on a different look and feel to it. However, I would still love to be able to fix lovely meals, no matter how simple, that bring health and joy to my family.
I'm 47…is it too late for me?
Danette
I love to cook and make up new receipes all the time. I see it as an actual stress reliever. My mom's side of the family are mostly all cooks.
I grew up on a farm so most of what I cook includes some sort of meat and potatoes but as I get older I am moving towards a little bit of everything especially pasta dishes.
When I make the journey back home there is one thing my family begs me for, even my 3 year old niece, and that is my enchiladas. My goal is someday to make a cookbook with all of my madeup receipes.
Have a blessed day!!
I was not a cooker, but learned to cook well enough to feed myself and my peeps. My first attempt was to make hot dogs, and even that was a stretch for me!! Now I really enjoy comfort food, and will be making your recipe for Chicken Noodle Soup often. Your son's poem is great, he's got his momma's talent for words!
Well, funny story, everyone thought I would starve my hubby to death when we first got married. No one thought I could cook. Boy did I surprise them all!!!
Renee – want a DELICOUS recipe for meatloaf, we just recently tried one off of allrecipes.com – and it has been passed around all of our preschool moms' now make this one.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Brown-Sugar-Meatloaf/Detail.aspx
I would love to try to win the ebook! Thanks for sharing and giving! Blessings!
I'm a cooker and I'd love a change to win the book! I follow She Cooks & it was fun to be re-directed to your blog today. Your chicken soup recipe looks yummy, it truly is a comfort food for the ones we love.
I am a cooker and a baker – it is something I love to do for my family when I have time. I enjoy trying new recipes (some are keepers and some go directly into the trash). I have many happy memories of special family ocassions and the traditional dishes that went along with them. I am trying to carry on the tradition as I raise my kids. Would love to win LeAnne's ebook too!
I am probably an average cooker. There are a few recipes I have been able to do fairly well, but my husband is a much better cook! I sometimes enjoy cooking, but it does kind of get old day after day. I have been trying to interest my children (15 and 11) in cooking, but haven’t had much luck yet.
I loved your son’s poem! That kind of thing is very much a treasure to a mom’s heart!
I have been following LeAnn’s She Cooks from the beginning; though I have only tried one recipe so far (it didn’t turn out very well, because I didn’t follow the recipe well enough). I will be trying this chicken noodle soup recipe soon!
I'm a cooker, but I do have a funny story from the first few days of being married. (also 17 years ago!!) I was teaching school and my husband worked for a local grocery store so cooking was done quickly in the evenings. (My mom was a working mom, and I'm greatful she taught me how to cook up meals with what you have in a hurry!) So one day, I tried to make something like chicken divan with rice. I had some dill dressing in the fridge and thought it sounded good as part of the sauce. ICKY!!! It was the most awful and yet still remains the most memorable meal I ever served my dear husband. Needless to say, I learned to follow a recipe after that. And now, 17 years later, I enjoy experimenting with flavors and thankfully haven't had such a "memorable" meal since! My children are terrific eaters, for which I'm greatful, and always complement my cooking! (I have 3 boys…so I think that filling their tummies with food is just part of their design, but the complements are sure nice!)
Thanks for a great giveaway! Always interested in learning new things in cooking! God bless!
I like to bake and I can be a cooker, it's just not my favorite thing. I first started cooking in the kitchen at church camp when I was in high school. Two 15-year-old girls making breakfast for 40-70 staff and kids. Our first oatmeal was try was NOT a success. We had trouble with the measurements in that large quanity. (The oatmeal came from the governtment in 5 lb bags.) We could have used it for mortar. When we scooped it out into the serving bowls. it kept the shape of the scoop. I've heard if you check where the old camp dump used to be, you can still find remnants of it…40 years later! 🙂
Well Renee, I am not a cooker either. In fact, my family makes fun of me at get-togethers because I am not a cooker. Don't get me wrong, I can cook when the mood strikes me, but working full-time and running my kids to activities, volunteering and going to school have all left me pretty exhausted most of the time, so I opt for quick recipes I know my family loves. Every now and then I get adventuresome and have a great time. But I do wish I was more of "a cooker"
ConnieH