Are you Hungry?

I was thinking tonight what I wanted to write about and it was obvious I wanted to share some moments of our weekend. It has been such a fun weekend and a great start to my birthday week. As mentioned in my previous post, I finished my last midterm this past Wednesday and had a cancelled class on Friday so I did minimal work this weekend and spent much time with my family. I thought about the events of our weekend I realized that the memories created were captured while sharing a meal. It is interesting that if you think about past moments that are meaningful and positive memories they almost always involve food of some kind. Obviously not all of them but many of them. This means one of two things. The Mason's love food and/or the breaking of bread with people leads to meaningful moments. i would like to think both are very true. The Mason's do love food but more importantly, the Lord gave us food to enjoy and share while sharing meaningful time with others. This weekend Kristin and I created some fun new memories over a few meals.

Earlier in the week I attempted to plan a camping trip with Elyse, my nephew Cade, and my dad. Someone forgot to tell me that going camping when your wife is going to give birth to your child any day is a bad idea. So we changed our plans and decided to camp in the backyard. A great alternative. The night was complete with a fire, roasting hot dogs, and of course s'mores. Yes, food was involved. Nothing better than a Hebrew National over the open fire with some good company. Cade and Elyse loved helping get the fire started. My dad, Cade and I spent the night in the tent after watch the Rangers win the series against the Yankees of course. The first memory of the weekend.


Elyse with cousins Cohen and Cade

The second came as a celebratory meal with one of my colleagues at school and his wife. I have become pretty good friends with my Korean colleague and we often talk of food, culture, and differences in our two countries. I love this time and so we decided after our hardest midterm we would go celebrate with authentic Korean BBQ. Much different that the sloppy smoked brisket and baked beans us southerners are used to. This was a real treat. We walked in and my friend and his wife handled everything. Talking in there native tongue and ordering everything for us. So awesome. The idea of an authentic Korean BBQ is hot coals are placed under a grill in the middle of a 4 person table in which you cook your own meat. There are about a dozen side dishes that you eat as you grill your meat complete with fresh garlic and jalapenos as well as a couple of dipping sauces. Once the meat is done grilling you take it and wrap it lettuce with any sides or sauces you want. If you aren't licking your lips yet let me just say it was amazing. For my birthday coming up my friend ordered us some rice wine to share which is similar to sake. It was amazing and rather pricey and was so generous for him to treat. This couple made the night so much fun and will be such a great memory. It is neat to see how our friendship with this couple has grown over just the past couple of months. Again great conversation shared over a meal, in this case a cultural experience.


Heading out the door.



No forks for us that night.


Our friends Jong Min Oh and his wife Heehyun or Heeny.


To top this great weekend was yet another event with family sharing a meal. Yes, I'm sure i've gained five pounds this weekend to those of you Colorado readers that are wondering but that is what you do in Texas I guess. I suppose you need to hold us accountable. Well, tonight we drove to visit with Grand Martha, my dad's mom. This is the third time I've seen her since I've been back and every time is so much fun. Tonight we went to Twisted Root and enjoyed some fried food and burgers. Yes another amazing meal and another great time shared over a meal. It was neat to see my grandmother and her great-grandchild interact. What a huge gap in age and so many memories in between. I pray these experiences continue as we share food with friends and family in the future.


At Twisted Root. Turkey Burger and fried pickles. Can't go wrong.

So, eat well. Converse well. Be intentional in sharing these moments.

A little side note since we are on the food theme, check out the amazing birthday cake that Kristin made for me. A no-bake cheesecake with an oreo chocolate crust.





Given the Halloween birthday there is a spider web on the top of the cake. Festive huh.