When we lived in a suburb of Los Angeles called Monrovia we found the most delicious ma and pop sandwich/burger shop. It was super highly rated on Yelp and for good reason. You’d go in there and not only were you getting amazing, fresh food, but they treated you like family. They chatted with you about your family and about the game that was on that night. Anything and everything.

This is the kind of thing that makes you go back time and time again. I was SO happy to support this family who ran this beloved little sandwich shop. They LOVED what they did everyday and it was very obvious to all of us repeat customers.

Another kind of interesting thing happened the other day while I was at Trader Joe’s. I was picking out some cheese for some shmancy sandwiches I wanted to make and I was glancing through all my options of cheddars……”hmmmm...English Coastal Cheddar….too expensive…..mild Wisconsin cheddar…..too bland…...yada yada yada…”

I grabbed a standard orange cheddar one that was more inexpensive and headed home. On my way out I grabbed one of their Newsletters, called the Fearless Flyer (I’m also a sucker for a good newsletter ;) ) and read it as I was eating a rather delicious, shmancy sandwich for lunch.

They had a little snippet in the newsletter about the English aged white cheddar cheese that I passed up on. They told the story of where it came from and how it’s made and it was absolutely fascinating to me.

“TJ’s English Coastal Cheddar hails from Merry Old England, the birthplace of Cheddar. The cheesemaker is located west of London in the coastal county of Dorset. Cool breezes and plentiful moisture nourish the soil and create lush grasses on which black and white Holstein Friesian cows graze.

These cows supply rich, creamy milk, which in turn enables the skilled cheesemaker to craft rich, creamy, complex Cheddar. It’s rugged (like the coastline itself) and flaky, with a smattering of tiny crystals throughout, courtesy of the natural minerals found in ages cheeses like Reggiano Parmigiano.”

Goodness gracious! Don’t you want that cheddar after reading that? I can practically taste the little crystals as I’m reading that!

Now the question is….what do these two stories have in common? Hmmmm….I see one very common thing. LOVE is the secret ingredient here. While the food is delicious at The Market Grill in Monrovia, it’s the people pouring love into my meal that is really what brings me back.

If I would have read that snippet about the English aged cheddar before I went there that day, you better believe that’s what I would have purchased! The STORY is what sold me on that particular food. I can just picture those men or women out there making cheese on those lush, seaside dairies. What is such a beautiful picture.

One other little example of this is a conversation I had with a friend of mine a few months back. She was complaining to me about how when she had her baby, tons of people from her church brought meals to her family. However, there was one woman who brought her a meal and she was VERY disappointed and wanted the world to know!

This woman had the gall to go pick up Cafe Rio for her whole family. The nerve!

“If I WANTED Cafe Rio, I could send my husband out there to get it! She should have made me a home cooked meal!”

Now, I will definitely say that I disagree with her. I think it is the thought that counts and I think it was sweet of this woman to bring Cafe Rio to her family. But the point is there. She would have rather had a duplicate mystery casserole ten times over because she can picture the woman making it at home for her family. Interesting, eh?

I thought so.

Of course there is the opposite side. In a grocery store if you were to be able to talk to the farmer or factory that made your food and find out the story behind how it was made for every food item you put in your cart, you would either LOVE it or HATE it depending on what they told you.

I’ve watched enough food documentaries on Netflix to know that there can be a very ugly side to food and where it comes from.

This was quite random, but I thought it was thought-provoking. Do you have any thoughts on this matter? I’ve always thought it was cute when people talk about how food tastes better at home because of the secret ingredient of LOVE. But I’m such a believer that this is a real thing. I truly think my family thinks my food is so much better than it really is because they know I make food because I love them.