Pie and Promise

My daughter's blueberry peach pie

When I came home from work my daughter was busy flouring and rolling out the dough on our counter, brows knitted in concentration. She was making a blueberry peach pie, her first time. I kept coming into the kitchen for this and that, and to see what she was doing. Finally she said, "Mom, you know how when you're writing you want to be left alone with your thoughts to create?" I nodded, because I do know. "Well, she said, I'm feeling that way right now. I'm kind of waiting for you to leave to kitchen so I can work out what I'm doing."

This baking and cooking is truly a creative pursuit for her. I went into the bedroom where my husband was setting up our new modem (our old one died over the weekend) and said, "I think we have a genuine foodie on our hands, and it's your fault." He smiled proudly. 

A junior at her high school saw her food blog and wrote to her on Facebook, asking if she would do a food column in the school's literary magazine. He said the idea for adding columns was brand new, and so she had complete freedom to do her column any way she chose, he was completely open. She was thrilled and nervous. "Why me?" she said. "There are so many amazing cooks in my school."

"That's just fear talking," I told her, going full-tilt into dime store psychology. "But this is how opportunities arise, and you can't sit around wondering if you're worthy. Just know that you are. And if you want, you could give all those amazing cooks a forum by featuring them in your column from time to time. You can set this up however you want to."

For awhile we sat and brainstormed all the things she could do: chef interviews, restaurant reviews, recipes from her, her classmates, teachers, even the little kids, and so on. At a certain point she wanted to stop brainstorming with me and claim the development of her column for herself. I could see her rambling around in her thoughts all night long.

I wonder sometimes if we're witnessing the moment when her future arrives and makes itself known. Her enjoyment of cooking and cuisine is definitely a clue. Come to think of it, even when she was a little girl—and her brother wanted to eat only chicken nuggets and fries—her palate was super sophisticated, tending towards salmon mousse and shrimp serviche and other culinary forays by her dad. It's kind of exciting to watch your children's passions unfold. You never know the wonderful places they might go.