A friend asked the other day if I cooked…I laughed.
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| Roasted potatoes with Parm Cheese |
I have been cooking since I could be in the kitchen. Mother wisely taught us that to be part of a
family, you were expected to contribute.
I can remember the conversation about getting an allowance~~WHY would I
pay you to do what you are expected to do for free as part of this family?
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| Spaghetti with peas, carrots and shrimp |
Now, don’t get me wrong…I understand the concept, but don’t
think just because we didn’t get paid, we were not taught responsibility. In the 8th grade, Daddy opened a
bank account for me and for Brian to teach us to be responsible. I can remember that first check~~I asked if I
could buy a pair of shoes, and so off to Chandler’s we went, Daddy in tow, to
do his FAVORITE thing~~SHOP (she says giggling)
Well, you know, now, I have to share another funny
memory. It was one of my 11th grade
SubDeb dances, and I needed an outfit to change into after we had pictures
taken. Daddy agreed to take me and LuAnn
to Rivergate Mall to get an outfit. I
phoned Lu to tell her that after Daddy stopped to get his coffee at Clindard’s
Drug Store, we would pick her up. All
went well. We arrived at the mall. Daddy plopped himself down in front of the
fountain at the entrance of JC Penney.
Lu and I strolled to the then Caster Knotts, my favorite store.
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| Wilted lettuce...oh, my!! Southern at its very very best! |
I tried on a few outfits and decided to go to another store
at the other end of the Mall. When we
passed Daddy, about 30 minutes into the shopping, he asked, “Are you NOT
ready YET!” Yikes!!! I looked at Lu and decided I would just go
buy the baby blue jeans-type pants with the matching net-type cotton shirt and
be done with it! In and out of the mall
in less than ONE HOUR!! WHEW…
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| Mother's very favorite~~buttered noodles with spring onions |
We got back in the truck and headed home. In a few minutes, Lu asked, “Isn’t your
Daddy’s coffee cold?” I was quite
befuddled, and looked at her with puzzlement and a “huh???” THEN, I looked at Daddy picking up his
Styrofoam cup that had almost caused the demise of my parent’s marriage on many
an occasion, and that almost caused many a wreck in trying to CATCH it from
falling off of the dash in the car, and I just started to giggle…Yep, I can
still remember the anger and “icks” from Mother describing having it in her
shoe!!
Oh, Lu…That is his spit cup!! Eeeeeeewwwwwwwwww….
WELL, we learned the hard way for Mother, that NEVER would a
spit cup be the same type cup as our Nashville Sounds cups! A Styrofoam cup, it was!!!
Ok, now that I have grossed out everyone, let’s talk
FOOD…cue: evil laugh…
Yep, I cook. Most
every day I cook. I usually cook a LARGE amount of something, to freeze for
another meal. It is my version of frozen
food meals.
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| White Beans cooked with Ham hock...it doesn't get much more SOUTHERN than that! |
Right now, there are six packages of homemade BBQ that I
prepared on Monday from an almost 9 pound Boston Butt Roast. I shared with a friend that there was
something very wrong with my saying I had a Boston Butt in the
oven…hmmmm….Hello New England Friends!!
LOL
I have shared that I have winter foods and I have summer
foods, and now, I am switching to my summer foods, but every now and then, I
find a package of winter food and eat it…I had yummy white beans over cornbread
last week.
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| Everything is good over cornbread!! This time is is white beans with ham hock and Vidalia onions |
I tend to make a lot of tuna in the summer. One of my favorites is to mix celery, tomato,
Vidalia onion, balsamic vinegar, sugar, hot pepper flakes together and eat with
Keebler-type crackers.
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| Tuna with celery, tomatoes, Vidalia onions, balsamic vinegar (too much liquid--this would be awesome with Baby Shell Pasta) |
My new favorite is to mix avocado, tomato, Vidalia onion and
drained tuna together and eat with Tortilla Chips…I am addicted to that, and
boy, how I wish I had an avocado right now!!
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| Tuna Guacamole--oh my...this stuff is addictive!! |
Food is just packed with memories for me. I was blessed to be taught to cook at a young
age, as were most young ladies on a farm.
We fed the “hands” many times when they helped us. I “found” who would later become a lifetime
boyfriend (LONG, sad, pathetic story) sitting around our table with a group of
high school football players, who were friends of my brother. Of course, I was only 13 at the time, and it
would take 4 more years for that relationship to happen~~ROFL…40 years later, I
THINK I am finally over it…heavy sigh…
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| I keep telling you that there is NO way to have too many pictures of cornbread...Crunchy Goodness!! |
I still laugh at the time I made “sugar” cookies with my
brother Brian to give to the preacher and his wife who were visiting for
Revival. We were probably 6 and 8…We
were putting in the ingredients, and it would NOT mix together, so Mother asked
us to go over the recipe. As she called
out the ingredients, each of us said what we had put into the mix. When she read: 1 Tablespoon of Baking Soda, I
stood very still and very quiet. They
both looked at me, and I said I thought it said 1 CUP!!
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| Pizza Rolls with Pepperoni~~oh, so yummy!! Charcoal REALLY approved,,, |
My brother’s quick temper ended our days of baking
together!! ROFL…
You know, to this day, I am not a fan of baking.
I still remember the voice of my mother telling me that it
“wouldn’t hurt me to learn…”
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| Homemade Chicken noodle soup...I had no carrots... |
She was right on so many occasions. I am thankful that I was taught to do things
that I might not have wanted to do, but it taught me great lessons. I’m glad that my parents didn’t always give
us the CHOICE to choose what we would do, because I would not have learned the importance
of having to do some things that I might not have wanted to do, but that helped
shape my character, and gave me the courage to know that I COULD do more than I
thought I could, and yes, doing some things I didn’t want to do, did not hurt
me one bit!
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| Cornbread with Roast Beef/Potato Hash...it was so so yummy!! |
You know, life is not always as we WANT it to be. Being content is a gift…
May you have the best weekend and I hope it is filled with
doing things that YOU LIKE…
Find those blessings that are all around you, and PRAISE God
for His mercy…I am simply blessed to create~~charlotte♡
My Mom never liked to cook, she always said she cooked because she "had to". Yes with 5 children you HAVE too! MyMom cooked good basic meals. She also baked again not something she enjoyed doing. At 86 she still cooks for herself. When I first got married I moved 6 hours away so I HAD to learn to cook. I have always enjoyed it. We lived in a tiny town in upstate NY. Pete worked on a large nuclear power plant. All the guys he became friends with there were not married........so I fed them all often! My mother-in-law and Petes grandmothers were excellent cooks...I learned a lot from them.
ReplyDeleteSo many yummies, so little time. LOL
ReplyDelete