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Cooking

Today's blog prompt for the Fearless Females was asking about a favorite recipe, or a recipe handed down through generations. I don't know if there are recipes that have made it through the years (mostly I come from a long line of recipe embellishers and non written recipes), but I would like to talk a little bit about the kitchen.

My grandmother is remembered as always making something for somebody and always wearing her apron. Everyone I have talked to has said that Vonnie was the best cook. My mom says she never remembers Grandma cooking anything fancy but that everything tasted fantastic. Except for the liver and onions that she was fond of. One of the things that she made that she was definitely remembered for was her candy making. Grandma would make divinity for the holidays and piano recitals and a few other occasions. Apparently her divinity was famous because the few who have mentioned it to me get that look on their face like they are remembering the best thing they have ever eaten.

A large lamentation from Grandma passing away was that she could cook about anything and never wrote anything down. This leads me to one of my favorite memories of my own mother. My grandma could make fantastic pies. Her pie crust was legendary. One year for Thanksgiving my cousin Kathy (who was just a few years younger than my mom)came out to our house and they became determined to recreate Grandma's pie crust. My childhood rendition of this memory is that there were literally pies everywhere. Every counter, table, open space that could hold a pie had a pie. I am not actually sure how many pies there were, enough that it was somewhat ridiculous, I am also not sure if they felt successful in their ability to recreate the ultimate pie crust but I know that they had a grand ole time trying.

My mother can also make anything she decides is worth her effort. I remember her lacking ingredients, substituting what seemed like ridiculous things and still making the best food ever. I loved eating her lasagna, chicken and dumplings, the pies (seriously the huckleberry pie from last Thanksgiving was the best pie I have ever had) rolls, and just about anything else you could ever eat. My husband gets slightly frustrated when I try to recreate some of her "recipes" (like grandma's they are embellished and just done from sight and smell) and I usually fall short in some way. In fact after the 5th time trying I finally made the minestrone soup the right way, it finally tasted like mom's. I learned a lot cooking in the kitchen with mom growing up. I learned mostly about spices and what things should taste and look like when they are done. I am very appreciative of my mom putting up with all of my questions constantly about cooking.

One final note on the kitchen. My mom and Grandma were (are) fantastic canners. In this respect though, my mother has taught me how to find the best fruit possible. It is not unheard of for my parents to drive for hours to get the best berries and peaches. My aunt Alice did this as well, she would come to a place outside of Boise every year to get Oregon berries. Unfortunately this is a quirk I have picked up as well. I love this memory my mother recently shared with me. My grandma was dying from cancer and asked my mom to get her some peaches. I know that cancer messes up how you taste things but mom remembers her saying that she opened the wrong peaches, those were the ones her sister had canned and she needed her own because they were the "right" peaches.

We start them young, here is a picture of my daughter and niece helping to pick apples at Grandma's house. Every year we come up and pick apples and my kids love it!

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