Food for Thought
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A few days ago I boiled some eggs–medium hard. I love having a few on hand each week for breakfast or for a snack. Then I opened a container of cut-up peaches, took out some greens and fresh blueberries, plopped them into my juicer along with protein powder and cranberry juice and within a few seconds I had a quick and nutritious meal.
This experience reminded me of breakfast at home when I was growing up. My dad was always in a hurry to get to work, first dropping us kids at school or the commuter train when I was in high school, so he asked Mom to make him a blender drink–egg, oatmeal, some fruits and that was that. Off we’d go. Those days are long gone from life but still alive in my mind.
Isn’t it amazing how many of our memories are attached to food? One of my favorites is my mother’s peach cobbler and another, her unbeatable apple slices, drizzled with a light powered sugar frosting. I can still taste it. It made a fine dessert as well as breakfast the day after it was first served, if there was any left that is. 🙂
But my very worst association with food is Mom’s lima beans. My sister and I called them ‘slima’ beans. Whenever they appeared on a dinner plate, June and I took turns excusing ourselves for the bathroom, where we would promptly spit out the little critters. Mom never caught on, thank heaven.
All of this is pretty silly now, when I think of it, but at the same time I’ve enjoyed pondering those good old days when life was sweet and easy overall. Mom and Dad were there–always. I never doubted their presence or their love expressed in so many practical ways, whether a ride to the morning train or a fragrant fruit pie after a sound meal.
Do you have a special memory around food that you’d like to share? We’d love to hear it.
Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food” (Genesis 1:29).
I remember that many years I skipped the cake for my birthday and instead asked for cherry pie. Loved it. There were memories of foods I didn’t like. Stuff like beets, sweet potatoes, and liver. But I loved potatoes and cherry pie.
Thanks for sharing your memory, John. Cherry pie was always a favorite of mine too. 🙂
I love this, Karen. I have so many “smells” associated with my upbringing…Mom baking chocolate chip cookies. Dad making waffles for dinner when my mom was out at night. I still eat papaya for breakfast for the smell and reminder of all of our family Hawaiian vacations. Such fond memories that those smells trigger. Thanks for the walk down memory lane today. love, Heidi
Thanks for sharing your ‘walk,’ Heidi. It’s fun to hear about.
Lefse is a potato bread like a tortilla that is Norwegian . It is topped with butter and sugar and rolled up and it became the symbol of Thanksgiving and Christmas growing up. I have tried to make it but recently have found online purchases to be the answer. Very true his food means so much in our memories.
Thanks, Kris. What a special memory of this lovely Norwegian treat. And how cool that you can find it online.
Oh my food does conjure up many memories.Buckwheat pancakes, fried rabbit, and fresh mashed potatoes at my grandmother’s. Mother could make the best seven minute frosting and swiss steak,
My father excellent macaroni and cheese. So I have memories in my grandmother’s kitchen and my own home kitchen. Most of these were made on Sunday after church. The list could go on and on. But it was sitting down at the dinner table and sharing our day
Overall good meal that was so special.
Thank you Karen for the subject of the day.
Thank you, Joan. You reminded me of the many Sunday dinners we had in my parents’ home–always prime rib of beef and all the trimmings. My folks grew up in near poverty so to be able to afford a hunk of good quality beef meant success to my dad. He was taking care of his family. It sounds like you had a marvelous assortment from the kitchens of your mother and grandmother. What a blessing.
My mother’s pot roasts were delicious the first day. But she’d keep adding flour and water to the gravy to make it last so it wasn’t as good later in the week.
That’s funny, Janet.
When I was a teenager we lived not far from Dad’s parents and the first thing I would do when we arrived was go to the dining table, lift the cloth covering food and see if there was any country ham and biscuits! There usually was! My Mom was not considered a great cook but she could cook the best roast beef! Her fried apple pies were Dad’s favorite. Her green beans were the best too and her cornbread. She won prizes with her canned peaches every year at the fair.> my husband was a minister and in “those days” wherever he preached in the mornings we would go home with someone from the church for “Dinner” the noon meal! My favorite place to go at one of our rural churches was “Nellie Green’s” and her husband. She always had chicken and dumplings and her famous Jam cake! I have her receipe but it does not taste like hers as she used her homemade blackberry JAM! > Thanks for helping me remember some of the ‘good old days when all of us were ‘poor’ regarding money but rich in fellowship and sharing good food. Love, Margaret
How special, Margaret. Charles had many happy food memories too, especially of the days when some of the men were out of work. Budgets were tight but there was always good food from the gardens and plenty of loving fellowship, as you mentioned.
My “Spiritual Mother” was a fantastic cook. My favorite memory is walking in the back door to her kitchen and the smell of homemade bread! YUM! Associated with the smell was the big ol hug that I received. A wonderful memory indeed….
How lovely, Patti. These are the memories that hold us close, especially during tough times.
I am a little late with my comment, but here it is. 🙂 I enjoyed reading all of the memories of food that others have. Mine include, many that were mentioned. One is of macaroni and cheese , corn on the cob, and Watermelon ! My dad owned the first “Frozen Food Locker” business in CA and we got corn by the gunny sack full , had a family shucking time and then froze it for future use. During WWII we had plenty of food because of the farmers that had lockers there. We always got a little extra from them. This was of course before “home freezers” were available. Had not thought of those days for a long time.
Etta Mae, thanks for sharing this delightful memory from your early life. How blessed you were as a family to have plenty of food during hard times, thanks to the food lockers of the day.