ANNABEL’S EASY MOTHER’S DAY L UNCH
Learning to enjoy time together in the kitchen is a benefit to all
When I think about my mother, I often wonder how she managed to do all the things she did in a day. Thrifty and resourceful, she sewed all our clothes, the house was always spick and span with fresh flowers and welcoming smells and, for every meal she set the table with candles, flowers and ironed napkins. Every week she cashed her weekly housekeeping at her favourite butcher in Cuba St, Wellington, with whom she cultivated a friendship that ensured we always got the best meat.
My mother had a university education but made the decision (as did many mothers of her era) to put her energy into being a stay-at-home mum. I railed against this as a teenager – as far as I was concerned she was a doormat. I couldn’t understand why she didn’t she want to earn her own money and feel the independence and freedom I considered our birthright as women.
Now I think how lucky we were. We were spoilt – not with stuff but with care and love. My mother was happy to have me in her tiny kitchen, and I now realise it was this time at her side that inspired the direction that my own life has taken.
So when it came to my own kids, I may have failed on the housekeeping front but I was always happy to hang out with them in the kitchen, where we’d make a big mess and have some fun, and they could experience that thrill of success when something good came out of the oven and everyone told them how clever they were.
Cooking delivers such simple rewards. You feel good because you’ve successfully created something, the people you feed feel good because they’re being looked after, and you all get to eat something yummy.
If you learn to cook as a kid you can use those skills to build a good life – even if it’s potatoes and eggs or beans and rice, there’s fun to be had around the table.
Mother’s Day is the perfect opportunity for the kids to commandeer the kitchen and show Mum how clever and competent they are (maybe with a little help from Dad or a grandparent if they’re small) and at the same time make her feel spoilt and special.
So here’s a dinner menu so simple even a child could cook it!