What is 2 in 52?
Around the time of Nora's birthday 6 weeks ago, I decided I was going to chronicle her second year giggling with us in 52 dishes for the corresponding 52 weeks. It was supposed to be about cooking for a baby, which a lot of my friends have questions about. It was also supposed to be a chance for me to dig into my massive, lovely, wonderful cookbook collection.
So far it's really only been an opportunity for me to stress out about how behind I am on it. Which is good. It fits right in with the rest of my personal projects that I can't seem to make progress on between swim lessons, nap strikes, volunteer work, the never-ending inbox deluge, vet runs, grooming appointments, and needing five minutes of quiet so my brain can reset itself.
It's also become obvious to me that I need to write this series for me. It's a diary of the food I'm using to get us through my second year as a mother. Meals are the fence posts some days. If I can just get us all from breakfast to lunch in one piece, we'll take it from there. If I can get us from lunch to nap-snack, we'll be fine. If everyone can keep it together until I can feed us dinner, this day will be almost over and we can have ice cream to celebrate.
People talk about life one day at a time or one step at a time, but I'm taking it one meal at a time. Sometimes, one bite at a time, depending on the temperament of our strong-willed little tornado. It really is impossible to ever know what you're going to get one moment to the next with her. I try not to hang to much weight on anything anymore-- all any of it means is that we're lucky to be here together to laugh or argue or eat.
2 in 52 is just going to be a celebration of that, the togetherness I'm building in my second year as a mom, and the way food acts as the glue. I'm sure the meaning of this project will change and grow with me as I change and grow as a person, a mother, and a cook. But right now, at the beginning, this is what I'm committing to: 2 in 52 is the food diary that's taking me from Mom to a 1 Year Old to Mom of a 2 Year Old. Our year, summed up in 52 dishes that fed us. They're the fence-posts between my baby becoming my toddler. They're the glue.
The delicious, delicious glue.