Month: August 2020

Cooking for a Large Family

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It was in the fall of 1993 that I attended my first cooking course. It was organized at the local community center by a man who had recently opened an Italian restaurant in town. I am really not certain what the intent was because he was teaching us how to cook thw same food that you could order at his restaurant. It always sort of felt like he was creating his own competition. Regardless, we learned a lot and had fun doing it at the same time.

This morning I was leafing through my collection of recipes and I found some that lead me to remember his course. They were remarkable because they changed the way I felt about cooking, especially for large gatherings; cooking the Italian way, I suppose you could say, it became fun. Of those courses, one image remained alive in me for quite some time, it was the great passion the kitchen our teacher had. One that was not only about nourishment but a kitchen that is place of celebration, a small party, a kitchen that has its own culture, a laboratory in which to create new flavors, an art, a kitchen that brings family together, that enhances events and punctuates the greatness and importance of sharing a meal… in short, he had a deep feeling, a way of loving the kitchen that I had never known. It was of this passion that I thank, it has allowed me to develop on my culinary journey.

I learned that t was regardless of how simple or complicated the recipe was the same journey is taken each time and our kitchens come alive.

The Feeling of Love

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How can you define love? Into which box do you place it?

What is love?

According to philosophy, human or religious judgment, love is related to the affection and attachment that is experienced towards a person. This leads to passionate emotions and intimacy. According to science, it is only a state of primitive evolution of survival that facilitates the continuity of species.

We have multiple ways to look at love, but on an inner personal level few would define it so clinically.

So how would you describe love to someone?

In psychology, the terms affection and love are of great importance. As all intellectual phenomena have been classified as sensations by scientists, all emotion is perceived as a simple mental affection, the element by which all emotional manifestations are greatly pronounced.

The psychologist Henry Murray (1893-1988) developed an organized personality theory in terms of motivations and needs. According to Murray, these psychogenic needs function mainly through unconsciousness, but play a major role in the personality of individuals. Murray categorizes these five needs of affection:

  • Affiliation: spending time with other individuals;
  • Nurturing: caring for another person;
  • Play: having fun with others;
  • Social rejection: rejection of other individuals;
  • Protection: be useful or protective of others.

So affection is a feeling of love, and yet as a mere type in the very broadest sense: a positive feeling therefore that like other forms of love makes us wish for the well-being or happiness of others, or even pushes us to participate as best we can. One can compare affection to friendship or tenderness, and its expression to benevolence or simply to kindness. A person with affection is said to be affectionate.

Affection has sparked a number of studies in philosophy and psychology concerning the feeling itself (popularly love, devotion, etc.) as well as the influence of this state of mind.

Oh, How Sweet Your Kiss

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What is kissing? Is it simply touching with the lips, one of the many signs of love, friendship or reverence. Is there a difference, are different types of kissing between a couple used to show one's feelings? For some kissing is kissing something or someone with repetition, vehemence and passion.

So, what is kissing?

What does it mean to you?

The kissing action in itself is simple. We even have examples of kissing in this basic form that have traversed time and space; the best known kisses are basically: the one that is called the "Judas kiss" because it is given as a false manifestation of affection and that of peace, which is given as a sign of affection and friendship.

When two people start a relationship, kisses are given all the time and anywhere, because it's the only intimate contact they can have; but as time goes on, kissing becomes a habit of structure with the importance of maintaining the sensation of unity within the relationship.

The kiss is the first step on the road to love and is the indispensable, creating a bond for a couple, besides that it gives a certain magical touch to a relationship and makes an avenue for greater passion, the desire to feel your partner's embrace, and through this deeper feelings arise. The longer it lasts, the more the blood vessels dilate, the more the receptors become sensitized and therefore the greater the pleasure it gives.

Apart from pleasure, performing this "habit" continually has its positive side:

  1. It is the best way to fill a relationship with energy.
  2. You can express a hello, I missed you, I love you, or I want you.
  3. A kiss says more than a thousand words.
  4. Give reassurance and the renewed feeling of being loved.
  5. It's a way to relax.
  6. Kissing can make the negative aspects of life fade even for an instant or for the duration of the kiss.
  7. The exchange of saliva is a sign of maximum confidence and desire for sublime fusion.
  8. It is the prelude to further embrace.

There are no special techniques, no recipes, no kissing rules; the essential thing is that it is given with tenderness and affection even when passion intervenes.

Some types of kisses include:

  • Soft and sweet kiss: expresses tenderness, can be accompanied by caresses and delicate looks.
  • Romantic kiss: it is given with all the strength of the love felt towards the other person
  • Sensual kiss: it's a way of flirting and incites passion and sensual contact
  • Encompassing Kiss: it takes your breath away, denote desire and show anxiety about possessing the other.
  • Passion kiss: it is much deeper and the caresses become more intense.

It's said that kissing is the thermometer of the relationship, so if you ever stopped wanting to kiss your partner, start worrying. Once married, perhaps that need to have maximum contact will fade away as you receive deeper understanding but it maintains the same gravity when kissing begins.

Here are some suggestions maintaining the passion:

  • Kiss your partner at every opportunity you have.
  • If you want to kiss in a public place, do so.
  • Focus on kissing and caressing without thinking about what follows.
  • Invent a code communication through kissing.
  • Understand that you do not need to have sex to feel pleasure; there are caresses and kisses that can produce unimaginable sensations.
  • Whenever you kiss, do it with tenderness, affection, respect but especially with love.

Fun facts about kissing in different cultures:

  • In Eastern culture, kissing is giving and receiving spiritual energy.
  • Contests of longer kisses have been held. One is the Kissing Tournament held in Mexico a few years ago.
  • It is said that if you manage to tie a knot with the cherry stem only with your tongue without touching it with your hands, it means that you know how to kiss well.