Like A Mother

Growing up, one of my fondest memories is waking up on school mornings in the winter, lured from my cozy bed to the still-chilly house by the smells of breakfast cooking. Every single morning of my childhood, my own single mom would rise before my two brothers and me, and cook a proper hot breakfast: Pancakes and sausage with applesauce on the side, french toast and bacon, any version of eggs and omelets, oatmeal or muffins. This was the midwest, and my mom grew up on a farm. Meals were square, big, and served with cold milk. Now as a mom, I do more or less the same -- though I do find some short-cuts, like baking healthy muffins in bulk, freezing them, and microwave de-thawing them before dragging the kids out of bed. For dinner, I cook from scratch most evenings and we always sit down together for the meal -- something that makes me a bit of an anomaly these days.  This shared passion for family dinners is just one thing that draws me to Leanne Ely. Over the past few years I've looked to Leanne as a mentor.