Photography by Susan Jackson
I have been dieting…for frigging ever. I suspect there are more than a few of you sighing, “Amen to that.” Food is first and forever foremost in many of our minds nearly all the time. And it—and everything pertaining to it—is also the sole topic of this issue of At Home.
I recall fondly a time (so) long ago when I ate without guilt. My school years are categorized in my brain by the after-school “snack” I whipped up: 1. a chocolate milkshake or 2. a batch of Helen Corbitt’s chocolate-chip bars or 3. Maggie cookies or 4. lemon cake with additional instant lemon pudding mix and oil.
As a result of those kitchen ventures, Seventeen, classmates, and my dear dad, I discovered that dastardly four-letter word “diet,” and faster than you can say “not-so-pleasingly plump,” food became the enemy.
As soon as I woke up, I started planning my meals. If sometime during the day I decided to dive into some delicious delicacy, the floodgates flung open and the food frenzy was on. Mine was an all-or-nothing world. For several months during my senior year of high school, I lived on less than 500 calories a day: lots of Tab, little else. Then my parents took me to New Orleans and I promptly regained every ounce lost. I dropped some of those pesky pounds again, and then I went away to college and found that pizza actually could make its way to your dorm door. Goddamn food. It just made me fat.
But somewhere along the way, someone—maybe Dr. Oz—mentioned that food wasn’t a foe, but merely the fuel of existence. I was gobsmacked. Really? Food as friend? Food as octane? What a concept!
Today, we love food for its savor, not its quantity, and smart young men and women go to culinary school and cook creations that are artistically presented and fine to the last forkful. In this month’s At Home, we take you everywhere—into the freezer at Bob’s Seafood, around town with traveling chef Kirk Warner—and delve into all aspects of food, right down to the room where it’s all created.
Bon appétit, and enjoy every bite.
