What's Cooking?

As I've shared in my previous blogs, my parents used to make my brother and I do chores from a very young age. This included cooking simple meals for the family. I remember being eight years old and standing on a stool or kneeling on a chair to accomplish the task. The meals we were in charge of making were very simple meals, like scrambling eggs or making bisquick pancakes and cooking them on a griddle. Sometimes we would get a package of sausage, but not very often. I remember one meal that was a standard of my Dad's that he liked us to make -- he had a name for it that was disgusting, but it consisted of toasting a couple pieces of bread and then pouring a sauce over the top that consisted of mushroom soup, frozen peas and tuna or sliced up roast beef. I also remember frying up bacon to make BLT sandwiches. I know we made Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and the infamous Hamburger Helper. Then when we became vegetarians our meals usually came out of a can from Loma Linda or Worthington Products. Oh, we also made grilled cheese sandwiches with Campbell's Tomato Soup. We used to eat a lot of bean and cheese burritos and tostadas. My parents taught us very young how to fry up flat tortillas for the tostadas. Folding the corn tortillas for tacos was a bit trickier. There always was some sort of veggie side. I remember in my childhood, there were bags of frozen veggies we used to prepare. We always seemed to have lettuce and tomatoes and Italian dressing, so quite often a salad was part of our meals. My parents used to let us use knives to chop up stuff when we were very young. Way younger than I would have let my child handle sharp objects. I guess parents in the 60's were fearless when it came to raising their children. 

Both my brother and I were always put in charge of peeling and cutting up potatoes. Sometimes my Mom would make potato salad, but most times, my Dad liked us to slice up the potatoes so he could fry them. We liked when he fried the potatoes because he made them extra crispy. Sometimes he would get a little too heavy on the salt, like he did when he made our popcorn the old fashioned way with Jolly Pop Popcorn and oil with a pan that had a lid on an open flame. We knew it was done, when the lid started blowing off the top. Then he'd margarine it generously (we couldn't afford butter) and pour a bunch of salt on it. We had the largest bowl on earth that he would pour two batches of popcorn into and we'd sit and watch a movie or tv program consuming the huge bowl. The best part was eating the half popped kernels at the bottom of the bowl. Then the part I hated, my parents passed around the hand towel that all the family members would use to wipe their hands and mouths on. I always was grossed out by that routine and most times would make sure I was the first one to use it. Quite often I wasn't the first one and would just get grossed out. What were they thinking?

My Dad was a destroyer of any cut of meat beef, pork and chicken. He always had this fear of trichinosis and would burn and overcook every piece of meat he made. He would require my Mom to prepare it extra well done as well. Oh how I remember if she served chicken that had pink, he would throw it across the room and pitch a horrible fit over the fact that she didn't cook it long enough. His BBQ's were even worse.

My Mom mastered vegetarian cooking from a cookbook called Apple A Day. Initially when she started preparing vegetarian meals, using canned items, the meals were less than adequate. Even our dogs wouldn't eat it. She later learned how to use her own ingredients to make delicious meals. However, I used to love the Loma Linda Veggie Links out of the can.

As we got older and were able to afford meat, I remember we were taught how to cook hamburgers and hot dogs. My Mom also loved to bake banana and pumpkin bread, so she would get us involved in the baking process as well. Quite often when my cousins would come spend the night with me, it involved us making a mess of the kitchen by baking breads or cookies. My Mom also taught us how to make homemade tortillas. The secret is in how much lard you add. I remember when she tried to get healthy on us and started using Crisco instead of lard. The tortillas weren't as delicious. Many of our meals consisted of Mexican food as my Mom was Mexican. To this day, my favorite food is Mexican food. I've already spoken of my Uncles and Aunts who mastered Mexican food. Unfortunately, my Mom did not inherit their ability to make Mexican food the way they did. My Mom did the standards -- tacos, tostadas, bean and cheese burritos (sometimes with Chorizo or meat) and individually rolled red enchiladas (my personal favorite of hers). She made delicious Spanish rice as well.

My Mom always cooked a really nice Thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings. Of course, she would get my brother and I to help her as needed.

By the time I started my family, I had learned to cook many standard meals, but then I got a hold of the Betty Crocker and Home & Garden Cook books and followed recipes. My family never complained about my meal preparations. The only time is when I would get stuck in a routine of mostly preparing Mexican food and they would ask me to stop making so much Mexican food. But my signature dish was also chicken enchiladas using red chili, but I don't have the patience to roll and fry each tortilla individually, so mine turned into a chicken enchilada casserole. I would often prepare the casserole for potlucks and was always asked for the recipe.

During my last marriage of 24 years, I was married to a man who loved to cook. In fact, before I retired he went to school to learn how to cook professionally as a chef (upon my suggestion as I wanted him to love his job -- since I was retiring) and spent the last 5 years of his career in food service. He had become an executive chef after climbing up from line cook. Unfortunately, that was a short lived position and where he was shucking oysters before he moved on into another wonderful line cook position with a very reputable restaurant. He was having some health issues and we didn't know that it was because he had been infected with bacteria before getting his new position. It's unfortunate that his career was cut short as he got a bacterial infection that caused him to almost lose his life from shucking oysters. He never fully recovered and was forced into a permanent disability status. However, he definitely had a gift for cooking and pretty much most of the meals prepared in our home during our marriage was cooked by him. Of course I would assist where I could. He made the best steaks in the world whether on a stove or BBQ. He also made a special meal for every holiday. Super Bowls were always fun. Even though I didn't like football, he did and he would always prepare Super Bowl snacks. He'd ask each family member what they wanted and he would set up a full table of everyone's snacks for Super Bowl Sunday.

After he left our family unit and we divorced,  I had to resume cooking meals for my twin boys and myself. During my marriage, I always was battling weight. So once we divorced, I now cook choosing healthier meal plans. I also lost more than 50lbs. The nicest compliment I received the first Thanksgiving I prepared was from one of my twin boys who told me that I actually prepared a better Thanksgiving meal than his Dad. I took that as a high compliment, because my boys loved his cooking. I had to remind them that I had actually been cooking since I was eight years old and had been the one preparing holiday meals before I married their Dad. One of the twins has taken up meal preparation and he is an excellent cook.

My twin boys have a birthday dinner request every year since they were little and I have continued that tradition. They like Jimmy Dean Sausage and Country Gravy poured over hot biscuits.

There is a story in the Bible about sitting at a banquet table with Jesus in heaven. I look forward to that day. 

Luke 14:15 -- "When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”

John 6:35 -- “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."

Matthew 6:25 -- “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?"

Ecclesiastes 9:7 -- "Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do."

Matthew 8:11  "I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven."