Four years ago my husband just finished a work contract for Nokia in Pakistan, and I joined him for an extended holiday traveling through the mountainous north of the country, along the border with Kashmir.Not even a week into the vacation, our plans were derailed by a 7.6 earthquake that wiped out the only road and left us stranded until we could be rescued by military helicopter several days later.
My parents had been a little concerned about my safety on this trip, but this was not the scenario that had worried them previously. After my husband and I made our way back to Islamabad and could contact our friends and family, my mother expressed frustration that my father had spent the time while they waited for news of us in the kitchen, baking biscotti, making pots of soup, and frying up skillets of eggs and potatoes for breakfast. She couldn't understand how he could even think of food at such a time of worry and distress.
But I understood perfectly. Which was why, after the week we'd had, I was so happy yesterday to spend the most of the day in the kitchen preparing for a pre-Christmas dinner with friends. I started by making the sauce for the eggplant parmigiana. While the marinara simmered, I made smoked salmon pate, bleu cheese spread, and tapanade. Then I floured and fried the eggplant. As the hours passed, there were also eggs to boil, cheeses to grate, salad greens to wash and dress. And a chocolate cake to sample and approve (generously baked by my husband on Friday).
When I emerged hours later I was ready for a rest, but I also felt relaxed, satisfied, calm for the first time in days. The chopping and stirring and tasting and watching a dish come together was just the sort of therapy I needed. Oh, and the eating and good company last evening completed the doctor's order. :-) And just as my husband and I survived the earthquake shaken but not shattered, so we shall from this latest bump in the road. Until then, at least the family will all have very happy bellies.
