Grace Unplugged
March 1st is the Global Day of Unplugging. For 24 hours, the hope is that we take this day to fully unplug from our devices, maybe spend some time outside, and connect with loved ones.
It’s easier said than done, even for those of my generation who grew up before the advent of cell phones and had to wait until we got home to make a call or read a book to get answers.
My son Mal lives on the other side of the country, and I only get to see him in person once or twice a year, but we speak almost every day, thanks to our unlimited data plan. He usually asks me cooking questions or tells me about what he cooked at work that day, catering, and sometimes he asks for dating advice. This year, I was lucky enough to have him in New York for two whole weeks during the holidays.
Like most kids of his generation, my son spends an excessive amount of time on his devices. Ordinarily, in his downtime, Mal could be found in his room, scrolling or gaming or doing some other non-analog activity, emerging when he was hungry or thirsty.
This visit was different, though. During this visit, we cooked meals together almost every day. Many of the dishes were quite elaborate and required serious attention to detail. Before coming home, he made a list of all the things he wanted to learn how to cook. He could have easily gone onto YouTube or some other site to learn those techniques, but he wanted me to show him — something he resisted growing up. This was a completely new dynamic and I loved it!
A few menu highlights were fresh, hand-rolled pasta with spicy seafood tomato sauce, fried fish tacos with homemade corn tortillas, shrimp and sausage gumbo, braised rabbit á la moutarde, and more salads than one can imagine. We also made dozens and dozens of Christmas cookies from beginning to end — another first. And he voluntarily did the dishes. It was really lovely spending time together in the kitchen with him. Plus he got to show off some newly acquired cooking skills which blew my mind.
All this is to say that the simple act of chopping vegetables, rolling out fresh gnocchi, or endless stirring of Cajun-style roux — shoulder to shoulder — was the catalyst for connection. And we did it all without YouTube.
I’m going to try my best to honor the Global Day of Unplugging this month. Luckily it falls on a Friday which is a no-meeting day for me at work. I plan on spending the day in the kitchen developing recipes and handwriting any notes to be uploaded onto my computer later — old-school, analog recipe testing. And I’ll make sure to call my son the day before to pre-empt any cooking questions he may have for me.
Wishing you all a blissfully device-free day!
- Grace
