愛的布丁

主題札記：小時候一哭鬧，一碗白粥就會讓含淚的小臉頓時綻放笑顏；炎炎夏日，吃著冰凍西瓜，每咬一口都覺“透心涼，心飛揚”，悠長的夏夜因吃了甜美多汁的西瓜而讓人無比留戀；和Lavender一同游走南京時有幸品嘗了地方特色美食——地鍋，于是兩人一提地鍋，就忍不住感嘆：“唉，那地鍋實在是好吃！一定要再去吃一次！”（心里那個惦念啊！#61514;）……

對于各種各樣的食物，敏感的味覺會留下不同的記憶，甚至是一些特殊情結。一起來看看CR小編們的美味情結吧！

Lavender：蛋撻——吃著它就覺得生活多么美好！

Maisie：白粥——簡單清淡卻令人回味無窮！

Eva：餃子——必須是我媽包的，那是全世界最好吃的東西，只要想家了就想吃餃子！

小狐：蛋糕——精致而甜美，如人生最浪漫的夢想在唇齒留香間變為了現實！

美編：Kinder出奇蛋——一次滿足你3個愿望！

都說人生五味雜陳，酸、甜、苦、辣、咸，一樣都不能少，如果少了一味，人生就不那么完整了。這期主題就讓我們通過三個有關食物的故事一起來尋味一番人生吧！

—— Maisie

I stood in the aisle of the market for nearly ten minutes trying to make a simple decision about what type of pudding to buy. My life is such that anything with an “instant” label on it grabs my attention. But oh the memories of my mom making chocolate “cook and serve” pudding.

As I stood there in the market， I could see myself as a child waiting by the stove and watching my mom slowly stir the pudding until it reached that creamy velvet rich 2)texture. I could see her pouring it into the cups， leaving just enough stuck to the sides of the pot to 3)entice me to take the stirring spoon and scrape every 4)morsel， until the pot barely needed to be cleaned.

The process of making this 5)dreamy dessert takes patience and time. Two things I find myself lacking in my life today.

On one hand， the instant is easier and requires one bowl. No 6)muss. No fuss. But too many times in my life I have taken the easy way. Oh yes， I have reached my goal in the process. But to what gain? Instant stuff brings little satisfaction in life. A solid success that one hangs proudly on the wall is one that requires the same special attention as “cook and serve” pudding.

First the right ingredients—you can’t make a cake with a pie recipe. Your life needs all the right ingredients as a foundation to true happiness. Love， 7)commitment， family， friends， faith， hard work， and dedication make for a solid foundation on which to create happiness and fulfillment.

Secondly， patience and time. As my 85-year-old friend Violet tells me， “Hurry slowly.” Keeping a watchful eye on the pudding， as the instructions suggest， by “stirring constantly” permits one to be aware of the process. Controlling the heat as

8)prescribed in the recipe prevents burning and

9)scorching. My tendency has always been to think that if medium heat takes 15 minutes， than high heat should take only 7. I’ll get there quicker.

But in life， as in this recipe， applying the right amount of heat assures steady， constant change. Watching the pudding thicken slowly builds anticipation and greater appreciation of the final product. Taking my time with my life goals puts more value in the experience and I find the changes to be permanent rather than temporary.

Finally， the celebration. Having taken so much time in preparing the pudding， I have 10)bonded with it. After dinner I place a cup in front of each of us. They 11)dive right in. But I， the creator of this masterpiece， savor this moment. I take my spoon and， off to one side of the cup， I break open the chocolate 12)seal that has formed in the cooling process， much like the closure created on a job well done after long dedicated hours. I don’t fill that first spoon 13)to capacity; just a taste will do. The first taste of success is always the sweetest.

Placing the spoon in my mouth， I close my eyes and once again I am a child and I swear I could hear Mom ask， “Well? How is it? I made it special for you.”

Yes you did Mom. Everything you did was special. Because you took your time， followed the recipe， added a lot of love and gained the satisfaction of a job well done.

The proof... is in the pudding.

我在超市的過道上站了近十分鐘，試圖做出一個簡單的決定：買哪種布丁。在我的生活中，任何標有“速食或速溶”說明的東西總會吸引我的注意。然而，我突然想起母親烹制“即做即食”的巧克力布丁的場景。

我站在超市里，回想起自己孩提時等候在爐子旁，看著母親慢慢地攪動布丁直到它呈現出奶油色如天鵝絨般柔軟而醇厚的狀態的那個情景。我看著她把做好的布丁倒進杯子里，然后會有一些粘在罐子的內壁，這誘惑我拿起用來攪拌的勺子刮出罐子里的每一點布丁，直到把它刮得干干凈凈，幾乎不用再清洗。