Saturday, April 05, 2014

E is for Eats.

Food seems to be a "thing" in our family.  I was thinking about it recently.

Grandpa E would cook the major meals most times, I remember him making roast duck, potatoes, things like that for Thanksgiving or Christmas.  He also taught me to like really "non-kid" food, pig's feet, capers, real oddball stuff...

Grandma E would always amaze me, we would show up at the house, and it just seemed like mere seconds, fried chicken, potato salad, or fry bread would show.   I know in my head that that wasn't possible, but it always seemed to be that way.  I remember one breakfast, we made toast.  She had this six bread slot toaster, and did we make toast!  There were several family members that came over, and Grandma toasted, I buttered, Mom was setting the table, getting jams, jellies, honey, all that out.  When we finished, there must have been at least a 2 foot high stack of toast.  I think it was gone in about 15 minutes or so.  Not counting the two that I snuck out during the buttering process...

My mom has always struck me as the MacGyver of dinner making.  I sometimes think if she had half a lemon, a taco shell, and three peanuts, we would have something wonderful by chow time.  I know that more than once, I forgot to tell her about a snack day at school, (something I found out is no longer allowed at that same school because of allergies...), and she was still able to come up with frosted graham crackers, apple and orange slices, juices, all sorts of neat things.  Even if she did seem to be a tad twitchy, and check the papers I brought home a little more closely.

One of the funniest memories, Mom made gingerbread cookies to match each student in the class, green eyes and red hair, or what have you, would have a cookie frosted to look the same.  Several hours later, they were ready to go.  To this day, Mom just sounds so disgusted when she says, "10 minutes!  Every last crumb, GONE, in ten minutes!" (I am surprised she wasn't impressed that I didn't filch mine beforehand...)

I think about one of the get-togethers I had with some of the younger members of Husband's family.  We "had" to go to a certain restaurant, and the kids would "ONLY" eat x thing.

How sad for them...

But, hey, more for me!   (Anyone up for toast?)

8 comments:

Willow said...

My mom was pretty magical with food when we were growing up too ~ I even thought fried spam was a delicacy ! lol

messymimi said...

So many wonderful memories around eats! And grandmothers are magic, as are grandpas who love to cook. As for moms, they work miracles.

stephen Hayes said...

Hey, I could go for some toast. My mom could also be surprised by guests and within minutes cover the table in food. The best I can do is order takeout for everyone.

Jaimie Ramsey said...

I have TONS of food-related memories from when I was growing up, both at home and from visits to both sides of my family. My mom's side is Italian so when we got together the kitchen was the place to be and it seemed like we ate constantly. My mom LOOVES to cook and instilled that in me. We had a lot of traditional foods for things--holidays and birthdays and such.

Such a fun post! :) Stopping by from the A to Z.

Tara Tyler said...

what a fun family friendly post! like an enjoyable meal!

happy e day!

Cheryl said...

What fun memories you have about food! I enjoyed reading this.

Grammy said...

Oh, yeah!! Thanks for the great post! I loved it. You have a way with words that takes us right there to the kitchen. My Granny Campbell, my dad's mother, was a little bitty lady with a whole bunch of kids and they were always bringing others to eat. She cooked on a wood stove for years, and when everyone was through eating, she would say in her high-pitched voice, "Cook all day, and it's gone in five minutes!". She loved to cook. She passed away 67 years ago when I was only 14, but I remember her like it was yesterday! Thanks for the post, and the memories it brought to my mind. :)

Ruby at Blabbin' Grammy http://rubyndub.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

I wish I could be like your mom. I get completely flustered by dinner plans. I'm working on it though. I wish we could all just eat cans of peas and almonds for every meal. Alas. The family is so picky.

I really try to do healthy snacks for my son's school, but we can only bring in packaged foods. It gets pricey buying pre-sliced packaged vegetables and hummus. Those I could do myself so easily.