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I am in the process of writing a Cookbook. My thoughts in the paragraphs below are written to this specific end.

Writer Norman Maclean on page 161 of his book “Young Men and Fire” makes the claim that “the problem of identity is always a problem, not just a problem of youth.” I wholeheartedly agree. I have spent my entire life working to find myself; I am still trying to figure out who I am. Mr. Maclean goes on to say, “the nearest anyone can find himself at any given age is to find a story that somehow tells him about himself.”

In this cookbook is a story of family and food and friendship and philosophy and music and art and effort and chaos and control. In this cookbook is a story that tells me (quite a lot) about myself. I feel it would be presumptuous of me to set any expectation as to what you may find, but I do actively hope that you will at least find some utility and/or a bit of enjoyment within these pages. If I have set a low bar and if I exceed expectations, so much the better.

I am a mandated reporter; that is one who is legally required to report suspected abuse or neglect including threat of harm. Last week I completed my yearly training for my substitute teacher certification. I was reminded of the following:

• Threat of Harm is “substantial risk of harm to [one's] health or welfare.”
• Neglect is “a failure of caretakers to provide adequate emotional and physical care [including] failing to provide food, clothing, shelter or healthcare that is necessary.”
• Physical signs of neglect include “Looks undernourished and is usually hungry [and] is consistently dirty and has severe body odor [and] lacks sufficient clothing for the weather [and] lacks needed medical or dental care.”
• Behavioral signs of neglect include “Begging for or stealing food [and] abusing alcohol or other drugs [and] engaging in risky behavior [and] a poor ability to relate to others.”
• Mental Abuse “can mean any mental injury which shall include only observable and substantial impairment of [one's] mental or psychological ability to function, caused by cruelty.”
• Cruelty is to willfully or knowingly cause pain or distress.

In the context of this training, these definitions were specific to school-age children but by leaving out the references to children they translate easily to a much larger picture. So my question is, who do I report us to? As a nation and as a culture we are guilty, and as individuals we are complicit. We knowingly and often willingly cause pain and distress by ignoring the homeless, by allowing the threat of evictions, by attaching a stigma to hunger and food insecurity, by stratifying healthcare, by suffering Capitalism. We talk the talk when it comes to our children, but we don't even do that much for distressed adults. And how much of that fallout lands on our children, often despite the best efforts of one or more parents and/or caregivers? And how can our abused and neglected children grow up to be anything but distressed adults?

There are currently more than 750,000 homeless on our American streets. More than 3.5 million evictions are filed each year taxing our system of Justice demanding that it dole out injustice. More than 18 million households in America suffer from food insecurity, uncertain of where, when, how, or what, and too anxiety-ridden to worry over why. Healthcare, housing, education, sustenance, childcare, employment, and credit are necessities that have been turned into commodities that are subject to the whims of capitalism. Perhaps our ignorance would be understandable if there were no solutions, but the problems could be easily solved and our lack of concern is inexcusable. As stated in a previous post, Pulitzer Prize winning writer Matthew Desmond in his book “Poverty, By America” says “By one estimate, simply collecting unpaid federal income taxes from the top 1 percent of households would bring in some $175 billion a year. We could just about fill the entire poverty gap in America if the richest among us simply paid all the taxes they owed.” (Page 137). Today instead of Equality, Liberty, Individualism, and the Opportunity to Pursue Happiness, we are driven by Threat of Harm, Neglect, Mental Abuse, and Cruelty: America is not a great country.

America is no longer even a good or decent country; and each and every one of us is complicit.

It has been determined that a recipe existing as a list of ingredients and basic instructions is an idea and by definition an idea is in the mind, thus a thought; and according to copyright law you cannot copyright an idea or a thought. You can, however, copyright the tangible expression of that idea. This not only makes sense but is also consistent with my very strong belief that a recipe should constantly evolve. In many instances, ingredients and ingredient amounts are suggestions only, subject to individual taste and whim. Today I might feel spicy - maybe tomorrow, not so much. Even in baking, there are some items that are negotiable. In addition, the tangible expression that accompanies the list of ingredients and basic instructions should reflect the idea's potential, not its unyielding, black-and-white set of demands framed on the page. In every recipe there are aspects that are only ideas; thoughts with potential.

We should take this lesson and apply it to Life. Be it a policy manual at work or a club charter or an edict from on high or childcare or education or healthcare or politics or religion or Justice or Capitalism or just the way we've always done things, we can do better. If we can (as we should) take a recipe and treat it as a thought in order to make it better tomorrow, perhaps we can apply that attitude to today as well - treat today as a thought, an idea, to inspire a better tomorrow. To truly live this though one must also willingly let go of yesterday's fluff carrying forward only those aspects of change that can make the recipe (or today) better. Fluff includes pretense, ego, and power. No matter how much I want it to be right, if the breading on the cauliflower is (even just a little bit) soggy, it's soggy.

Today, the breading on America is (more than just a little bit) soggy.

If it weren’t for the truth in lies, the reality of imagination, the character in pretense, the essence of superficiality, I would shrivel up and die.

I can stop apologizing. I have been vindicated - validated even. Read the two paragraphs below from the book ‘This Is What It Sounds Like’ (page 104) written by neuroscientists Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas:

“...the audio signals that impinge on our eardrums are routed to several parallel networks in our brain, each focused on a distinct quality of the soundwave, including its emotive tone. One of these networks processes the acoustic pattern of melody in the soundwave. Another network processes the acoustic pattern of words.

This accounts for the middle-aged suburban dad sitting at a traffic light while belting out with Aretha Franklin, ‘YOU. MAKE. ME. FEEL. LIKE. A. NAT-UR-AL WO-MAN!’ The odds are high that Dad isn't feeling the lyrics of female empowerment as much as he's feeling the confident melody. The simultaneous dual processing of melody and words allows Dad's mind to focus on either the intonation or the information, and it chose the intonation. (Our brain's automatic division of musical inputs lends credence to many melody lovers’ claim that they never listen to the words.)”

For my whole life I have felt it necessary to apologize when I butcher song lyrics. I feel like I should know that it is “Maybe I'm Amazed” not “Baby I'm Amazed” and I feel like I should hear the story that is being told in the lyrics and doggone it sometimes I do “FEEL. LIKE. A. NAT-UR-AL WO-MAN!” - its emotive tone anyway. So now I can stop apologizing.

As humans we have a tendency to judge others, especially those who are different. For example if one individual doesn't hear or understand song lyrics that mean so much to someone else, each may tend to judge the other for their mis-prioritization. I don't know if my preference to not really listen to the words places me in a minority of all music listeners or just those around me, but when I feel music and I'm comfortable enough with those around me, I am likely going to belt it out and I am likely going to butcher lyrics and I am likely going to be (good-naturedly) mocked.

I am most often listening to music when I am preparing and cooking food, and what better place to butcher lyrics than when I am grinding meat, or kneading dough, or smoking salmon, or stirring a pot. And like music, food evokes memories and feelings, from positive and negative emotions to nostalgia to comfort and security to bonds with family, friends, like-minded groups, and culture. Food and Music; for me they go together (in the words of Forrest Gump) “like peas and carrots.”

At another point in ‘This Is What It Sounds Like’ (page 138) the authors state, “Lyrics serve our social lives by stirring up our memories. …Many people enjoy reliving scenes from their past, and cite their desire for reminiscence as their main reason for listening to music.” I believe the second part of this statement can be true for those who prioritize lyrics and for those who prioritize melody but I believe the first part of this statement implies that those who prioritize lyrics are more likely to listen to music to reminisce, whereas those who prioritize melody are more likely to listen to music for the in-the-moment experience and maybe, perhaps, those who prioritize melody are more likely to try new things - seek new experiences. And if music is head, heart, and hips and lyrics are more head and heart and melody is more heart and hips, then perhaps regarding food those who are head and heart prefer the comfort and security of tried and true recipes passed down and remembered whereas those who are heart and hips are more likely to seek incremental improvement in those recipes handed down and more likely to be adventurous exploring new and different food genres. Just a thought. I suppose it is possible for one to be head and heart for one (food or music) and heart and hips for the other, but me - I am all in heart and hips for both; I want to feel music that makes me move and I want to dance with process, preparation, control, chaos, flavor, texture, aroma, and presentation that makes my food sing.