Holey, Wholly, Holy

My mom is an amazing cook and baker. I have memories of experiments we sampled for her cookbook and making Christmas cookies together. But one of the things our entire family clings to is birthday icebox cake. When Nabisco stopped making the chocolate wafers this past year, I had to improvise and bake my own, When it came to food, my family didn’t eat out much and sometimes our table might have seemed sparse to some, but there was always so much love.

I inherited my mom’s love of cooking and baking. Last year for the very first time I tried canning my own tomato sauce. My sauce was not nearly as sweet as those found in the grocery store and we adjusted to the flavor – looking forward to savoring each jar as it was opened. And my hard work provided sauce from September through April!

It takes a full day to make the sauce: blanching tomatoes, making sure you have enough new lids for each can, determining which vegetables and flavors to add to the pot, cutting and chopping and mixing, and then the long stewing process on a low cook temperature, followed by preparing the cans and then boiling them for 35-40 minutes to seal the lids.

But the completed project? Every time I open a jar I remember the goodness of using my own talents, time, and energy to create this one little jar and it brings me such joy!

Caring for people can be like that, can’t it? We remember the memories we’ve made with those we care about and we build on each one to create a lifetime of relationship and love. And each of those pieces knit us together more closely.

I have a group of people that I call family that I see once every year for a week. We camp, eat, attend inspirational conversations and evening concerts, and just catch up on all the important pieces of our lives during our time together. Even though we only see each other as a whole once a year, that time is sacred space for us, bonding us together in a way that cannot be broken.

I think that’s really what homemade love is all about. It’s the mixing of each ingredient to build into a wonderful concoction that elicits warm feelings and comfort.

What kind of homemade love might you use to build relationships with the people that matter the most to you?