Day 5: What Connects Food and Life?

From a biological perspective, food gives way to life. All living things need food in order to survive. However, food and life are also connected in a variety of other ways. There is good food and bad food, just as there are good parts of life and bad parts of life. I guess what I'm really trying to say is that food has inconsistencies, just as life does.
Tonight, we had steak, green beans, and butternut squash risotto. Butternut squash looks and tastes a bit like pumpkin (for more information, click here). The risotto was what got me thinking today. While savoring the lightly sweet, cheesy, soft goodness of the dish, I thought about how much effort it takes to make it. It took a lot of work for my mom to finally get the recipe just right. Risotto is not easy to cook; it takes perseverance, time, and practice. Practice. That means that it won't be perfect every time. It'll take multiple tries to get it right, and even after the first perfect time, there will still be occasions where it's not quite right. There are two important things to know:

1. If it isn't right the first time, don't just give up on it. Give whatever you're doing time and a chance to improve. Patience is a virtue (though not mine). 
2. When you do get it right, don't just assume that you'll get it right every time. Once in a while, there will be blunders, and you'll just have to accept it. Consistency and perfection are very difficult to achieve together. 

Being consistently good at something takes forever to do. If I could count the number of things that I'm consistently decent at, it would be on one hand, and I would have learned how to do those things since I was very little. However hard it may be to have it, though, consistency is important in one's life. By keeping certain factors constant, you can make way for other variables and leave room for failures. That way, when the time comes, you won't be left in total despair and ruin. Family is an important part of this steadiness. Your family are the people who will always be there, no matter what. It is easy to confide in them when necessary. Family is also who you have dinner with regularly, who you enjoy your food with. Coincidence? I think not.
On that note, I say good night. So night ends now, with me writing yet another blog post. Until next time, this is Rachel Ma, and, in the words of Alton Brown, I bid you good eating.

Song I'm humming tonight: Because of You by Kelly Clarkson