I don't remember Grandmom being a great cook. I have cousins who would argue with me. They particularly loved her ham loaf. I did not.
But I didn't like meat much at all. Hated fat and gristle. I'd carve out the middle of a pork chop and leave so much wasted on the edge. Not a nice thing to do when she was trying to feed us on such a limited budget.
Nothing that she made stands out except maybe her mac and cheese. She made tuna noodle casserole, which I tried to remake once a few years ago just for fun. I don't think we had salads, except jello salads. Vegetables were frozen or canned. Asparagus came out of a jar. It was years before I tasted properly cooked asparagus and realized that it did not have to be yellow and slimy. I don't think she liked cooking. It was just her job. But, for me, the ham loaf was the worst.
I developed a few ways to get rid of my meat. I'd cough into my napkin, carry it into the kitchen and dump it in the trash. I'd be careful to cover it with other trash. I didn't always get away with it.
There were two shelves under the table that held an extra leaf. Using the cough technique I could take a mouthful of meat and hide it on the shelf at my end of the table. I tried to remember to get the meat out and toss it later but I didn't always have the chance.
One day the mommie was dusting the legs of the table (who does that?!) and she found a bunch of desiccated meat that had been there for who knows how long. After that they watched me to make sure I ate the meat. I had to stay at the table until I finished. The longer it took the colder and grosser it got. One Friday I sat there slowly choking down some kind of meat and I missed Rawhide, my favorite show. I could hear it in the living room. What a misery!
My happy Grandmom food memories are all about snacks. On summer evenings she made rootbeer floats, which she served with pretzels. I'd scope the ice cream up on the salty, crunch pretzels. We sat on the porch with the radio in the window listening to the Pirates play baseball.
2 comments:
Food always carries so many memories. My mother used to serve Lima beans and I hated everything about them. I would smother them in ketchup and swallow them whole. The one thing Cherry and I agree on is that there will never be a Lima bean in this house. Ever.
HA! I feel like everyone has a vegetable that was ruined for them.
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