Today I am going shopping for groceries with a big smile, because this Sunday I am doing something I absolutely love, and that is cooking for a group of people. For me cooking is a creative outlet much like poetry or painting, it springs from the heart. This weekend is going to be fantastic because I get to enjoy two things that are worth celebrating, Mother’s Day and organic food. I learned early that food and family were the fabric of life, and that understanding has carried me though a lot of rough times.

I was born into a San Diego based fishing family which meant my Dad was at sea most of the time I was growing up — stressing about catching enough fish to pay for his fuel and food on the boat then having something left over for the family. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I realized how really tough that existence was and honored my father with a book called Uncharted Waters. It was my Dad’s journey that provided a model for all of us of hard work and tenacity, but it was my mom that was our Northern star, a bright beacon guiding and encouraging us. She would always push us to do more and better, saying “God will never give you more than you can handle.” I can’t tell you how many gazillion times I have had to remind myself of that, and thanks to her I have always felt I could do anything. So my Mom was always the constant that held the family together and was the one who nurtured me and my sister and two brothers. She is also the one who taught us to love and respect food. That sense of gratitude and reverence has carried through my whole life and has only grown with time.

Today more than ever I appreciate my Mom’s wisdom and sensibility and am eternally grateful to her for teaching us to strive to do more, to never be complacent or settle for the status quo.

Which brings me back to the celebration on Sunday. I will be cooking for my Mom for Mother’s Day. We usually go out to dinner or my Dad cooks fish. But this year I am hosting and honoring my mom with a feast of Organic Food. Of course we will celebrate the other moms coming including my wonderful daughter. But I want to make this one special for my Mom. We are celebrating her and I am personally celebrating the role she played in helping me realize a lifelong dream of being able to share the wonderful new Wild Oats organic products, spices, olive oil, tomato sauce, quinoa rice blends and on that will be the foundation of this meal. – So Mom thanks so much for helping me and providing the encouragement and spirit to always strive to make the world a better place. It has been an amazing journey, and I know that “God will never give us more than we can handle” so bring it on!