Conversations with my chef friend, Penny Cameron

1996, West Windsor, New Jersey

Me: How can it cost $5 for a loaf of decent bread?

Penny: Make your own in a bread machine. It’s easy.

Me: Not likely.

2000, New Hope, PA

Me: Genuardi’s is out of the good chicken stock again.

Penny: Make your own. It’s easy.

Me: When pigs fly.

2001, September, New Hope, PA

Me: Sugar free applesauce is almost impossible to find.

Penny: It’s easy to make on the stove and freeze in ice cube trays. Even better, can it – apples are cheap right now.

Me: I don’t I have an inner farmer to channel.

Since those conversations, I’ve done everything Penny suggested. I’ve made my own chicken stock for almost 20 years. I’ve canned applesauce and more for almost a decade. I’ve channeled an inner farmer enough to become a teaching gardener, showing preschool children how to grow and enjoy herbs and vegetables.

Penny died just a few months after my applesauce complaint – liver failure. Whenever I take a chance and try to grow or cook something new, I feel her spirit surround me. What a beautiful way for the Spirit to show me how to eat with intention and thanks.