Relish every bite

With a new year right around the corner, it’s a time to remember the people, places, and events that touched our lives, both good and bad, over the past 12 months. Life is what happens to us, they say, while we are busy making other plans.

Food seems like a fitting analogy, as we all strive to find the perfect recipe for a life. The ingredients of love, career, family, and home hopefully come together and bring us satisfying pleasure and a strong body and mind as we change and age.

Building a perfect dish or bite requires that balance of sweet and savory, a dash of salt, and a bit of acid to cut the sweet. As with life’s work, kneading the dough makes it better and more pliable and open to rising and stretching to fit the needs of the recipe.

Simple, whole foods are always better than artificial or processed. Fillers and additives may preserve food but often detract from taste and true beauty.

Following directions is important but, as with life, as we develop habits and rituals, sometimes being spontaneous and trying a new flavor or creative adjustment to a tried-and-true recipe produces surprising results.

The best food is a pleasure to all of our senses, not only taste but sight, smell, and even touch and hearing as the food may sizzle on the plate or crunch with each bite as it hits our palate. Pure satisfaction. To savor is to enjoy something completely. And a cool glass of water is the simplest and most replenishing beverage to wash it all down.

Maybe a good life doesn’t require a perfect recipe, but more a healthy dose of desire, gratitude, and genuine love.

May we all find our perfect plates in the new year, and relish every bite.