Finding a Way Back Home

I haven't lived at home for a long time. Years. Somehow, while I was cooking today, putting creative energy and soul into making a pizza, it brought back so many memories. Memories of my Dad. 
Memories of him cooking.

If I had to pick a theme song for this pizza it you be Brandi Carlile’s song, “Wherever is Your Heart."

"I think it's time we found a way back home
You loose so many things you love as you grow"

Anyone who knows Chris Shiraki knows that he loves food. I have always said that I think his two favorite things in the world are food and people, and I've never been 100% sure which comes first. Or possibly he has one favorite thing, good food with good people. All growing up we watched him work in the kitchen, slicing, smelling, savoring.  He loves cooking. He loves eating. He loves inviting people over to feed them his incredible food. It's the Hawaiian culture in him. And his generous spirit. His great love for all people. They call it, "the aloha spirit," and my dad has it in his veins. It's in his fingers and you taste it when you eat his food. You feel it in his hug and in his laugh.
I remember my mom having to limit the number of times he could invite people over for dinner in a week. With eight children at home she tried to reel him in. She loves people too though, so it never really worked. We are all talkers in our family. One time my mother walked down the street holding onto the window of our car as we drove away so she could finish a story. 
It was a good way to grow up. We had doctors and bishops and presidents of companies over to dinner. We also had homeless people over, people at the end of their rope with nowhere to go. We learned to love people. And we learned to love food. 
My dad has the kind of innate sense of taste where he can eat something amazing at a restaurant and go home and recreate it. He knows flavors, he knows how they work together and how they contrast or heighten each other. And if you stop and stay awhile, he will tell you how it all relates to the way the universe moves.
Because 'Grandpa Chris,' as my kids say, is a philosopher at heart. Everything he sees relates to a bigger picture. His religion and his work ethic permeate his life like a well seasoned roast, where every bite is full, rich, and purposeful.

"Though your feet may take you far from me, I know
Wherever is your heart I call home." 

As Brandi says in the song, I was born to roam. I left first for a summer working in Alaska when I was 16. For so many years my feet took me far away, here and there, Italy, Taiwan. In truth though, I never leave them behind. I can't escape my practical, frugal mother's heart. Mom taught me how to apologize, how to be okay being wrong. Dad gave me the gift of that aloha spirit. I love tying the strings of the universe together to see how they make sense. I love talking to people. I love all their varying hues of character and personality. I love feeding them good food. 
Some people think it isn't healthy to associate food with love. I don't know any other way to live. There just isn't anything like the feeling of putting a bit of your heart into a recipe and watching someone's eyes light up when it's just that good. For me, there isn't anything else quite like incredible food with good people. It's when I feel the most at home.