Miss Jane's Kitchen

I know what Heaven smells like.

With all the computer experts I have in my life, you'd think one of them could come up with a way for us to experience the aromas of each other's lives.  We can see each other's pictures.  We can watch each other's videos.  We can even send virtual smiles :-) and virtual hugs {{ }}.  But, so far, there is no way you can experience what I experience when I walk into my mother-in-law's kitchen.  It's Heaven.

A fastidious housekeeper, Miss Jane's kitchen is always tidy.  There wasn't room to put in a dishwasher when they built this house (my father-in-law and his sons did the building of the house), so every dish has been handwashed all these years.  No dishwasher etching of the glasses.  No premature weakening of the handles on her pots from the heating element.  Nope, every dish has been washed in a sink with lots of suds and plenty of hot water while the washer of the dishes looked outside the window into acres of woods. 

There's a garden window in Miss Jane's kitchen.  It is also known as an African Violet forest.  This woman can force bloom any flower and bring any plant back from the brink of death.  She finds the fifty-cent plants in the clearance section and turns them into beautiful testimonies of what can happen if you just take the time to care about something, and show it a little love.  A plant in this kitchen window is a lucky plant, and they seem to know it.

But the best thing, by far, about Miss Jane's kitchen is the aromatic offering of every meal.  A southern lady, Miss Jane knows how to cook.  Her fried chicken and fried okra are my husband's comfort foods.  Her Sunday roasts and vegetables are as wonderful now as they were every Sunday of Dale's growing up years.  Her pork chops are to die for.  And her pies and cobblers are legendary.  Seriously.  When she takes one to a church potluck or fund-raiser auction, people look to see which dish is hers.  I don't even like cobbler, but her peach cobbler makes my eyes roll back in my head.  Yes, it's that good.

Jane is generous with her recipes.  She is more than willing to share her special twists and modifications to any recipe.  But there is a HUGE secret that I think even she doesn't realize makes such a difference in her cooking: She cooks with love.  She cares about every person who walks through her door.  She knows that a good meal can change someone's perspective on a bad day.  She believes that food is to be enjoyed.  And she has lived her life taking care of people with food.  Yes, she loves people, and her food shows it.

Can every hurt be healed with a glass of sweet tea?  Probably not.  But I can guarantee that if you could spend just a few moments in Miss Jane's kitchen, surrounded by the plants and the smells and the love, your perspective on life's woes would change.  It might even change if you could just get one whiff of her pecan pie.  Yep, it's Heaven.