Please join me in welcoming author Hillary Manton Lodge to Inspired by Life…and Fiction today! Hillary is a friend of mine and a wonderful writer. Have you read her contemporary romances? If not, get thyself to a book store! They feature not just a love story but also all sorts of delectable recipes. Love and baking? Yes, please. 🙂
Thanks for visiting us here, Hillary! -Becky
Hillary
A few months ago I had the opportunity to write a column which invited readers to respond by email. The email counted as an entry to win a copy of my latest novel, Reservations for Two, so I received more than a few responses.
I’ve done a lot of book promotions over the years, and this was one of my favorites. Some readers simply emailed asking to be entered for the drawing, but others wrote thoughtful responses to the column I’d written about my own history as a foodie.
Some readers talked about learning to cook alongside mothers and grandmothers, or learning to cook in adulthood. Others shared that they didn’t cook – but enjoyed the friendship of those who did.
But a couple letters stood out in particular and got me thinking. One reader wrote about her recent widowhood, and how she’d taken to throwing dinner parties for friends – both new widow friends and old.
Another reader wrote about how she’d cooked with her mother and for her family, but within a short period of time, her mother passed and her nest emptied, and with it her pleasure in cooking.
Both stories got me thinking about seasons – seasons of cooking, seasons of hospitality. Now, I’m sure there are people out there who would say that hostessing is always the answer, that you should always be in the kitchen.
But I’m not that person – and that’s coming from someone who writes food fiction, and enjoys cooking and hostessing. It’s a romantic idea that cookery and hospitality are always achievable, but it’s often not practical.
Life comes at us in seasons. Just like there are seasons for grieving and seasons for joy, there are seasons for hospitality and seasons for takeout. Deadline season? Yeah. Takeout.
Here’s my rule of thumb – host if it brings you joy. Cook if it doesn’t cause despair. And if it’s not a season to host in your home, consider inviting loved ones to dinner, lunch, or dessert at a favorite neighborhood restaurant. Enjoy the summer weather and bring finger foods to a park. And if you have a significant other, what setting does he feel most comfortable in? Make that a factor.
And if cooking feels overwhelming, streamline. Mix in takeout or healthy frozen options alongside simple home-prepared meals. Consider slow-cooking a large cut of meat (or several pieces of chicken) that can be prepared several different ways, and/or frozen in portions.
All that to say – each of these seasons will shift. What feels overwhelming now might seem like a grand idea another time, and vice versa. There’s wisdom, I think, in taking a moment to be quiet, listen to your heart, and ask how the Lord would have us spend that season.
What about you? What sort of season do you feel you’re in? How do you feel you’re called to respond?
Hillary is the author of Reservations for Two, A Table by the Window, Plain Jayne, and Simply Sara. A graduate of the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism, Hillary discovered the world of cuisine during her internship at Northwest Palate Magazine.
Over the years, Hillary’s novels have enjoyed critical success from Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and Romantic Times. In 2010, Plain Jayne was nominated as a Carol Award finalist, and Simply Sara enjoyed a place as an ECPA Bestselling book. In 2015, A Table by the Window was shortlisted in the INSPY Awards.
In her free time, Hillary enjoys experimenting in the kitchen, attending indie concerts, and finding new walking trails. She and her husband make their home in Portland, Oregon, with their Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Shiloh.
Becky Wade
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Nice comment. Food for thought. I love food fiction and Christian books and those in between. Thanks for your time
Food for thought. I love food fiction and Christian books and those in between. Thanks for your time. Would love to read Reservations for Two. Adding it to my TBR
Thanks for stopping by, Kim! I love the way that Hillary has combined food fiction and Christian fiction. A treat!
I am an older widow who enjoys entertaining in her home! When my out-of-town children cannot be here for holidays, I often invite other widows to join me. I enjoy preparing brunch for groups of ladies from my church. Occasionally I invite couples and/or other singles for a meal.
Joan, Good for you for entertaining! I’m someone who doesn’t often entertain. I’m more the ‘invite friends out to lunch’ type. But I’ve been ministered to by others through their hospitality many times. It’s a gift!
My husband has taken over most of the dinner cooking around here. Which is LOVELY!!!
It was KIND OF his turn anyway. I’d been doing it for 24 years. He’s enjoying learning how to be creative. And I’ll supportive and stuff.
Side note-my brother dated a Murchie daughter in college. We knew them well back then. Nice family.
Foodie books are always fun. I love the idea of food fitting into the seasons theme. A time to cook and a time for takeout makes it easy to not feel guilty when I pick up fast food on the way home after a long day of appointments or running kids around town.
Also wanted to mention that I absolutely loved both Simply Sara and Plain Jayne. Wonderful books! And I look forward to reading Reservations for Two.
I grew up not being allowed in the kitchen. The threshold was an invisible barrier that if crossed meant certain death-at least by the looks given from those cooking. So it wasn’t until I got married and had children that I found myself in a kitchen trying to remember how my parents or grandparents made such and such. As a military wife it was even more difficult to prepare meals for a family of five when one member was deployed and the other three were toddlers. But what I remember most about meal time is that it is an unspoken invitation for gathering. I’ve grown as a cook and love to try new recipes and have gathered quite a collection from the friends I’ve met while moving all over the world. I find my seasons shift with the ebb and flow of being a military family. We just moved (our twelfth time in 20 years) and as I’m settling into our new home I can acknowledge that I’m not yet ready for the season of hospitality but I know it’ll come and when it does I’ll be ready with a whole new menu of recipes that I’ve gathered from the local area we call home. <3
I feel like i am in the early fall season of my life