I was the last child. The 5th girl. My mother was 41 when she had me, and to say she was more than done having children would have been an understatement. After all, she had been having them for over 20 years. When my father died when I was 9, the woman saw that as a green light to slow down on cooking. I don't blame her. A couple of my sisters were really picky eaters. You know, I find that behavior completely obnoxious. The picky eater. Just shut up and eat it. I never can believe when random kids come over and I have cooked dinner and they say they don't like it. Um, so? Cereal box is over there, dude. I don't make anything crazy weird when other kids are here. Sometimes we are talking about scrambled eggs. Of course they aren't delicious. Shut up and just eat them.
To say that I was fed well in my growing up years would be a stretch. When it was just me and my mother, she hardly ever cooked but did know how to stock a pantry. Everyone always wanted to come to my house late night because we had every snack cake known to man. I lived on those snack cakes. Twinkies, Little Debbie's, Cupcakes, Moon pies, Zingers, etc. I also had a crapload of Rice-A-Roni and hot dogs. Those were things I could cook. Do you know I never ate broccoli or cauliflower until I moved out? I guess after you've been trying to shove that down people's throats for 20 years, you just give up. After all, surely there is some nutritional value in Twinkies. The woman didn't have great eating habits herself. For breakfast, she would have coffee. For lunch, she would have a Coke, and it was when they were in those little bottles. For dinner, she would just have a few bites of something because she always said she wasn't hungry after fixing the food. It's no wonder she weighed 112 pounds her entire life until she quit smoking, then look out Mama, the woman got really fat. I guess what I'm saying is that I didn't have much training in the kitchen. So, where did I get my cooking chops?
When I moved out of the house, I was armed with my Betty Crocker cookbook and was ready to go. I did ok. No one starved. Sometimes, we would even get a little creative, such as chicken roll up contests. It was a different person's turn every week and we moved from house to house trying new chicken roll up recipes. That consisted of pounding out chicken and coming up with interesting fillings and sauces. Then, I met my friend Marsha who grew up in a huge family that did nothing but cook. She first impressed me with ham gravy. Who knew such a thing existed, and WHY HAVE I NOT HEARD OF THIS BEFORE? Two of my favorite things, Ham and Gravy. She also taught me a thing or two about Velveeta. The kids' baby daddy's mom and aunt were pretty savvy in the kitchen and some of my favorite recipes come from them. Oh, and Southern Living Magazine had something to do with my cooking. I would try something new out of there every month. I still try something new at least once a week from Bon Appetit, or Epicurious.
Lori once gave me a shirt that said, "It's a Good Thing," because my friends called me Martha Stewart. I used to throw a pretty lavish dinner parties. My Easter gatherings are legendary. I thought I was doing pretty well in the kitchen department. Then, I met Robert, who was all too excited to tell me I was doing it all wrong. I didn't have the proper tools. So, he outfitted me with good German knives, All-Clad pots and pans, and all the necessary tools you never knew you needed. You know, kitchen toys. It actually did help. I also found the Martha Stewart Channel on Sirius 112 and it has also changed my cooking life. I made a pie this year. With homemade crust. It was awesome. Thanks, Martha!
I guess I'm saying that I have had to learn cooking on my own, with lots of help from people along the way. How did you learn to cook? Was your Mom awesome in the kitchen and you made cookies on a chair next to her from the time you were 5? Was it your Aunt? Maybe a family friend. Was it out of necessity so you didn't live on Rice-A-Roni and hot dogs?
4 comments:
Because my Mom reads this, I must say she is a wonderful cook. This woman was cooking with yogurt before cooking with yogurt was cool. She had the menu for the enitre week made out on Sun. and each of us had our day to make the meal as she worked and wanted us to learn to cook. Through several trials and tribulations (can remember my sister Lisa burning a roast or 2, complete with fire alarms going off) we ate at home very night. Going out to eat after church on Sun. was really special in our family due to the above. Needless to say, we would rather stand around and cook together with mucho bottles of red wine than go out to eat......Krys
Well the first person who came to mind as a great cook was Krys' mom, Bev, who has nurtured me with food for a major part of my adult life. She gives me fresh herbs and stuff from her garden and I know I don't do them justice but I have so many great recipes from Bev. And of course the wine always helps! :-)
Oh, if I could live close to Bev's garden. I think she was a true inspiration to several of us. Great job, Bev. You have touched so many of us in so many ways.
OK I have to say that my mom also made some pretty weird stuff before weird stuff was cool. Like beef tongue, brains, and every variety of zucchini recipe known to man (and some unknown!) We were eating fondue before The Melting Pot, artichokes before California had ever heard of them, and were for sure the first family in our neighborhood to make Taco's. And she was also the queen of casserole's. They were easy for us amatuer's to heat up when she had gone to work. So here's to you, Beverage, to making us the only sister's who can share an order of fried gizzard's on the way home from the grocery store! Martha Stewart ain't got nothin on you lady!---Ginny
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