Being at a non-religious school after so many years of Catholic school, I have glued myself to a club at my school called the Christian Student Fellowship. I've gone to every meeting I can get to and have frequently hung out with most of the members outside of meetings and bible studies. They've become my friends, and through them I am becoming stronger in my faith; I thank God for them. I can't imagine what college life would be like without their friendship and ready acceptance.
How does this relate to food?
Well, one of the chefs at our school is a strong believing christian who has initiated a monthly bible study at his house to promote faith in the culinary field. The reasoning is that culinary is a tough field and does not always have the most spiritual group of people in it. Faith is something that this chef believes people need in order to make it through such a challenging career. This past friday all interested culinary CSF members went to his house for a casual dinner to discuss what the bible study will be about and how we will go about organizing it.
His house was beautiful, a real homey home. It was comfortable and welcoming and smelled deliciously of cooked chicken and hot apple cider. The chef only cooked a protein; so, older CSF members who live in apartments with kitchens and fridges brought side dishes. There was sweet potato casserole, fresh veggies and dip, thick slices of bread with garlic butter spread, and german potato salad. Everything was amazing. It felt like thanksgiving. It was the first home cooked dinner I have had since I moved in (unless you count the chicken pot pie leftovers my parents brought me when they visited). The two rooms we had settled into to eat were filled with chatter and laughter and what CSF likes to over refer to as "fellowship." It was wonderful.
After dinner, everyone helped to clear the tables and then squashed into the living room with coffee, tea, more apple cider, cake bars, and six layer bars (not seven because there were no butterscotch chips). We sat in a circle and just talked. We got to know each other better, especially the chef who very few of us were acquainted with. We talked about everything from why I wear miss-matched socks to how the strangest thing our club leader had ever eaten was a giant worm in africa to discussing what the Bible says about marriage and being single. The whole time it was raining and thundering outside, making the room that much cozier and the feelings of security and friendship that much stronger.
At the end of the night, we all said thank you to the chef, tromped on our shoes, huddled under umbrellas, and piled back into the school van we had rented to head back to school. It was a wonderful night, a night that I hope to enjoy again next month.
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