essay #2 using Example

Fast food can’t win over Home Cooking

Fast food can never measure up to the pure enjoyment of a home-cooked meal. Although fast food is convenient when someone is in a hurry or when there is no time for cooking, it usually lacks the taste and satisfaction of a meal from your or someone else’s kitchen. Fast food restaurants, through their television commercials and newspaper coupons, try to make their food look very appetizing. But when you finally buy their food, it just never is as good as advertized. You could almost think that they don’t really care about the quality of their food; they just want your money. However, when it comes to a home-cooked, the cook cares more about making sure that the meal is enjoyable, rather than hurrying you out of their house. This is why home-cooking will always win over fast food.

We all can remember of bad experiences at fast food restaurants. For me, I recently visited a fast food restaurant, stepped to the counter and placed my order. At this particular restaurant I could watch the people in the back prepare my meal. The cook was just slapping the meat, lettuce, onions, and pickles onto my burger. The whole time the cook was preparing the burger, it appeared that he had not once looked down to see if everything was in order or if he really cared at all. When the number on my receipt was called, I took my food, filled up my drink, and found a seat hoping to enjoy a good meal. I knew that I should check my food since I had just witnessed the sloppy way in which it was prepared. I pulled out my fries and they looked fine, after all it is kind of hard to mess up fries. I then got my burger out and opened it up. As expected, it looked like it was just thrown together. It didn’t look the least bit appetizing. The lettuce was limp and pale. The burger looked like a piece of leather and the bun was flat. Somehow the version of the burger from television didn’t quite make it to my tray. I couldn’t bring myself to eating this poorly prepared burger, so I tossed it in the trash can and finished off my fries. I then headed home to get something good to eat. While not all of my visits to fast food restaurants end this way, more often than not I leave less than satisfied with my meal.

In contrast to my fast food experiences, thoughts of home-cooked meals bring happiness to my heart or more specifically my stomach. One example of a good home-cooking memory is the annual trip our family has taken to north Georgia state parks. These trips involve seven families who stay in three cabins for the Columbus Day weekend. Our activities during this weekend include hiking, fishing, and white water rafting, all which are great fun. But, my favorite part of the trip each year is enjoying the home-cooked meals prepared by the families in each cabin. Each family picks one night to prepare dinner for the entire group. Each day we are there, the sounds of dishes clanging and the smell of home-cooked food fills the air around the cabin. By the time dinner rolls around, everyone is tired and hungry from the day’s activities. Everyone meets in the house that provides the meal for that day. Upon entering the cabin, conversations about the current football games or some special event that took place that day are heard. Amidst these conversations are wonderful smells that greet everyone entering the cabin. The family who prepared the meal welcomes everyone with a smile on their face. When the food is finally on my plate and the first bite has been taken, there is a satisfaction in my stomach that only a home-cooked could produce.

Another example of a good home-cooked meal would be at my Grandmother’s house on a Sunday after church. When I walk in the door of her house, I am greeted by the smell either of mushrooms frying on the stove or of a casserole in the oven. While I wait in the den, watching the NFL football game that is showing, I can’t help but feel the growls in my stomach as my mind is preparing me for the delicious meal about to be consumed. The wonderful aroma of all the food that has been cooked soon over takes me and I can’t wait any longer. When my grandmother says that dinner is ready, I jump up and run to the table to see the feast that has been prepared. After the blessing, I then fill my plate with a portion of everything she has cooked. After seconds and thirds of my favorite dishes, my stomach is soon filled to capacity and then some. No fast food restaurant can come close to competing with a home-cooked meal at grandmother’s house on a Sunday after church.

It is often said the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. However, the way to this man’s heart is not with just any cooking. Don’t bring to me food prepared at a fast food restaurant if you want to win my heart and my stomach. It better be a home-cooked meal.