La mia storia, finora ...

My story.  So far.

Davis's Ashland Cookbooks aren't cookbooks at all.  They're an autobiography in food.

- Rhonda Shore, Owner of Books One and Two, and photo contributor

 My history with food is…  lifelong, really.

Food is the one thing that is there throughout my many days (so far).  I don’t remember when I started cooking, but if I had to guess, it must have been around six years old.

I remember being in my Grammy D’s kitchen forever.  In Grammy’s house, the kitchen was the center of life, and that’s a pretty good place to grow up centered in.  Not so much in the house I grew up in.  That was a pretty horrid, 1960s-style galley kitchen.

I grew up with an electric stove, which is why I must have a gas stove (and oven) now.  I hate electric stoves and ovens, as does anyone whose knowledge of cooking goes beyond microwave directions or opening a can.  When I discovered cooking over a gas flame, it was a revelation.  I felt as though I had been abused theretofore.  (I can cook on electric, I just don’t like it.  And I make sure everyone knows it!)

I’ve also always “invented” recipes.  I put “invented” in quotes because I’m fairly sure that, in fact, I actually have truly innovated very few.  Mostly, I find ways to do things differently and, hopefully, do them better.

Around age 6 (or so), I became fascinated with watching Graham Kerr (“The Galloping Gourmet”) and Julia Child.  That explains a lot…

I found them both absolutely hilarious, but they both cultivated my love of food, my love of cooking and feeding people.  From there, I “discovered” many other chefs.  Then came The Food Network.  Heaven!  Nowadays, I’ll not permit myself to set foot outside my house on Saturday afternoon until I’ve seen (at least) one hour of Lidia Bastianich.  I can’t even leave the room when Emeril or Paula are on the TV, or Sunny, Rachael or Geoffrey, for that matter, either. 

Whenever I’m not sure of something, I YouTube Julia, or Lidia, or seek the guidance and knowledge of one of my culinary idols on the Internet.

After 32 years, I retired (or was retired, to be brutally truthful) from church musicianship.  Being the organist-choirmaster for about a dozen parishes (congregations) over that period of time, I had some of the most astoundingly good food at choir and parish events.  I also made lifelong foodie friends with many of the fine musicians with whom I worked.

Same thing with being a (singing) actor.  Actors know how to make something out of nothing, and that applies to food, as well.  Some actor should (if they haven’t already) write a book, “How to Cook in Your Hotel Room,”  because that also has been some of the most amazing food I’ve ever had.

Yes, I enjoy cooking and, more recently, baking from scratch.  (It used to be that if it wasn’t from a box, add eggs and water and oil, I wasn’t going near it.  I still have a bit of a yeast phobia, but I’m getting better about it.)  But even more than just making the food in and of itself, is the sheer joy I get in feeding people.  In bringing people together over a meal.  Of sharing a part of my soul and being with others through the gift of food.

Until recently, I thought I had – finally – mastered “soul food.”  (On Rachael Ray yesterday, I was reinforced in my firm belief:  “soul food” is any and all food cooked with love.  It has nothing to do with ethnicity.)  I’ve never mastered it:  I was raised with it, and in making it.

I learned it “at the feet” of my grandmothers (both Mac Connell and Davis, and the adoptive one, Mrs. Lamparelli), my father, my colleagues, numerous friends, and those ladies and gentlemen on the television whom I so greatly admire and try to emulate.  My mom eventually learned how to cook.  From my father, who was a genius in the kitchen, who in turn was well-taught by Grammy D.  Before they were married, mom could ruin boiled water or ice cubes.

I’ve never “mastered” soul food because it cannot be mastered:  it is ongoing.  It is a living, breathing art as much as is life itself, and learning how to love, and how to express that in ways that work.

So, about three years ago I started writing about food and cooking, having just puttered about for the first few years of my retirement.  I needed something to do:  I was bored senseless.  Being retired from my two previous occupations, but still with lots of energy and other abilities, I needed a mission.

I've always treated my work as a mission, a ministry.  I was suddenly without one come mid-2009.  Because of not just one, but several medical conditions/physical limitations that either inhibit or make impossible my former professions, I had to "think outside the box."  Social Security narrowly restricts what gainful activities in which I may engage and still be eligible for disability.  (Not to mention how much I can make in order to continue to receive a very small cash benefit from SSI!)

Becoming an author?  It just struck me one day, while I was...  guess... Cooking!  Now, I'm embarking on a third published opus.  Who'd ever have thought?  Certainly, not I.  But God is as full of surprises as s/he is the joy of fulfillment.  I've got a mission again:  thanks be to God!

It is my hope to share with readers that love of life and food.  Of loving people by (at least) feeding them in body, mind and soul.

So, as I conclude the first (and future) books:  it's about gratitude, love, faith and hope.  And expressing that through cooking.  "And the greatest of these is love."

Love, peace & blessings,

Davis

P. S.  That said, let’s get cooking!