Feel the Food, Feel the Love

Whitney M.

April 10, 2009 - 5:51 PM

People's appreciation for food usually stems from the quality of the flavors and aromas. Kat Flanigan Recognizes these qualities in her favorite food, fettuccine alfredo, but it brings more enjoyment to her than meets the senses.

The first time Flanigan ate fettuccine alfredo, her grandparents insisted that she take a bite of the "white blob" in the middle of her plate. As a stubborn child, Flanigan resisted, but since her grandparents introduced her to the creamy Italian dish, she has found an appreciation for fettuccine alfredo that stems from family, friends, and love.

"Whenever I have Italian, I think of warmth and good people," said Flanigan, a University of Oregon junior from Sherwood, Ore.

Now that Flanigan has grown, she gets a new, more nostalgic pleasure from digging into the pasta dish. While she was studying in Germany, Flanigan lost her grandparents. They died 90 days apart: first her grandmother after battling cancer for four years, and then her grandfather, who Flanigan says died of heartbreak.

"Now that they're gone, I remember eating [fettuccine] with my grandparents," Flanigan said. "I can still hear the plates and the dull roar at the dinner table. Fettuccine just smells and feels like home."

I wrote this touching story during my first or second day in Reporting I. Kat is a really great girl, and it was really nice to be able to get to know her personally in such a short time. I guess that is one of the advantages of being a repoter: not only do you get to be a professional "learner," but you get to be a professional miniature biographer, getting to know the people you interview and allowing the rest of the world to see the beauty they have to offer.

Kat in Venice, Italy! How perfect is that?!?!