GENEROSITY: A DIVINE ATTRIBUTE

 

Photo courtesy of stock.xchng

 

Now I understand why many people I know of Greek heritage are so generous! Speaking about Greek heritage brings to mind a photo of Greek-themed cupcakes a friend emailed me some months ago. Arthur, if you’re reading, this is for you!

Photo courtesy of Big Fat Greek Going Away Party Cupcakes by Sugar Daze/Little Miss Cupcake Paris

It’s not only Greek people who are generous, of course. There are so many people living today and throughout history who are and will be remembered for being generous. The Dictionary meaning of “generosity” makes reference to “nobility of mind, self-sacrifice, the habit of giving freely without expecting anything in return, and offering time, assets or talents to aid someone in need”.

Generosity, by definition and action, is indeed a noble personality trait to possess.

If you’re stingy with making cupcakes, someone misses out.

When I was making the cupcakes for the kitchen tea last week, I started off thinking that I would make about 30. The task of creating so many intricate sugar bows was becoming a daunting thought, but I soon realised that if I insisted on being stingy, someone would definitely miss out on a cupcake. After all, there were at least 50 on the guest list. So after making a decision to tap into my spirit of generosity, which I knew was there somewhere, I made 50 cupcakes. Although it took me hours, I felt pleased with my contribution and I knew that most people would get to have one.

So will I be remembered for being a generous cupcake maker? Maybe….


“What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.”  Albert Pike (Lawyer/Journalist/Soldier 1809-1891)


I’ve often wondered what I’d like to be remembered for. Wouldn’t it be lovely if, when asked to describe you, a person said you were generous? In a way, I think it’s one of the noblest things to be considered generous, as it goes against our very nature as humans. With us, it’s all about the self – how “I” feel, what “I” want. Maybe this is why the Greeks knew that generosity was a “divine” attribute, above human nature, bestowed upon us by God Himself perhaps?!

The great thing about generosity is that it’s not just the wealthy who get to be generous. If you’ve got heaps of cash and you can share it, that’s great. But for us ordinary people, we can be generous with our love and time; we can be generous when we cook a delicious meal for someone; we can be generous when we give a handmade gift; and we can be generous with our thoughts and words. In fact, any act of kindness, no matter how large or small, could be considered generosity – even baking cupcakes! It’s the spirit behind the act that defines it. My conclusive definition then, is that generosity is the noble act of giving freely without expecting anything in return.

Luckily, I have a forgiving family who is satisfied with late-night toasted cheese sandwiches in lieu of a real meal, which, on any given night, could be gluggy, overcooked, or – in the case of a few particular recipes – exploded on the inside of the oven.


Aunty Jen, ever thinking about food and its importance to relationship health, decided I could not spend the first precious years of my marriage with a bottle of oven cleaner in my hand and thoughtfully purchased me a ticket to the top of the food chain. I was really excited about my gift voucher to attend the ‘Learn to Be a Chef’ course at VictorsFood and booked my place in the class almost straight away. My mum’s already a great cook, but she decided to do the class with me too so we could spend some much-needed time together.


We arrived at international chef and restaurateur Victor Pisapia’s picturesque Waterloo apartment smack-bang in the middle of Sydney’s recent heatwave. It was 42 degrees in the CBD, but that wasn’t going to deter us from standing over a hot stove. Like troopers, Mum and I strapped on our aprons, donned our chef’s hats and proved that we could stand the heat and we certainly weren’t getting out of the kitchen.
 On the menu were a couple of simple, healthy dishes that Mum and I (and the four other foodies in the class) looked forward to eating for lunch:


Entree


Vietnamese spring rolls


Mains


Prawns saganaki…..

Photo courtesy of Jim Bahr – VictorsFood

Baba ganouj….

Photo courtesy of Jim Bahr – VictorsFood

Photo courtesy of Jim Bahr – VictorsFood

Photo courtesy of Jim Bahr – VictorsFood

Dessert

Key lime tarts….

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Fenech

Things I learned:

To chop like a pro: It’s not until someone shows you the fastest, easiest way to maneuver a knife that you realise you’ve been making cooking hard for yourself, sawing your way through meat and vegetables. I have to admit, at first my pride was a little wounded at Victor’s distressed cries of, “Elizabeth! Stop! You’re doing it wrong!” But in hindsight, I’m glad he picked me up on it. Victor, if you’re reading, I’m pretty sure I’m now doing it right…


Quinoa is pronounced ‘kin-wa’: This was my first experience with the South American grain and it’s delicious. It’s high in protein, fibre and iron, plus it makes a great, filling meal for the coeliacs in the family. We’ve already used it at home – it’s as easy as boiling rice.


Many hands do not necessarily make light work: When it comes to moving house, get as many people on board as possible (you might notice how busy your friends are on weekends when you require a hand with heavy lifting). When it comes to the kitchen, I like as much room to move as possible. Luckily, VictorsFood runs small classes so there’s always something for you to chop, stir or flambé.


Things I was grateful for:


Victor allowing me alternative duties when I was too precious to participate: Call me crazy, but I don’t like food that still looks like the animal it was when it was a living creature. Like prawns. I don’t like peeling them, I don’t like cooking them and I don’t like eating them. My absurd campaign to ‘Save the Prawns’ served me perfectly until I ran into a prawn dish on Victor’s menu. He gave me a stern lecture that in a kitchen, you never say ‘no’ when the head chef tells you to peel the prawns, but he eventually relented and allowed me to julienne a lime for garnish when I started to hold my head and rock back and forth on the spot.


Gourmet chef and co-presenter, Greg Ardill: Aside from being an accomplished chef, Greg’s encouragement and sense of humour is what really made our day. He also lightened the mood when I was caught dicing the vegetables too thickly and made me feel much better after the aforementioned prawn incident.


Sitting down to a well-deserved, delicious meal was the sweetest part of the day. Over a glass of fantastic wine I realised I’m always going to be more of a cook than a chef. And perhaps, if I’m honest with myself, more of an eater than a cook.


What matters for me most is that I can continue to learn new culinary skills and that I’ll always have family and friends around to test them on. It helps to have a brother and a fiancé who are gluttons for punishment – they will have two helpings of my terrible dishes to make me feel better about them.


At the end of the day, cooking requires dedication from the parties on both sides of the kitchen bench! So I’d like to say a big thank you to every person who has put his or her body on the line in my pursuit of domestic perfection.


Wow, that made me hungry and jealous! I want to do a VictorsFood cooking class now!


Thanks for sharing Liz! Love ya heaps xxoo