Mmmm...That Sounds Good



The fam chowing down



Ben tried out for the basketball team this year. He is a senior and last tried out and made the team as a freshman.  During that season he didn't get a lot of play time but he did get a girlfriend. Girl trumps basketball or at least it did back when he was 15.

When first cuts were made during this tryout, he didn't make it.  His ego was hurt and his pride battered but he displayed a level of maturity not frequently seen up to this point. There was no blaming of the coaches, no excuse offered for poor play. He just accepted it and looked for the lesson(s) to be found.  Even so, he still needed a little help to feel better and nothing provides a body comfort like favorite foods. For Ben it was grilled steak and macaroni-n-cheese. Ahhh, an icepack to the bruised ego.

Not only is comfort found in certain foods, specific dishes also serve to remind me of people and places. Food (as much if not more than photos) tends to open the door that leads down memory lane.  Sock-it-to-me cake, butterscotch pie, and biscuits with chocolate gravy  make me think of Mawmaw Gann. Nobody makes potato salad like Aunt Sheila and it's impossible for me to eat fried chicken and not compare it to my mother's. YUM!  I wonder which foods will be the ones my children remember most from childhood.



Banana Pudding



 In addition to the requisite family recipes- Thanksgiving dressing (it still never turns out just like mom's), beef tips, Martha Washington candy, sweet potato casserole and banana pudding - I have some others I consider quite dear. With each move our family has made, I have asked for recipes from friends. I may not see them often and it is even possible our paths will never cross again, but I cannot prepare those special dishes without thinking of the person from whom each one came. A couple of examples are a soothing chicken soup with bowtie pasta, the recipe came from a sweet friend in Hartselle, Alabama and a cool macaroni salad from a dear friend in Lynchburg, Virginia.  These women impacted my life with their friendship for a season, but I keep them close even now through their recipes.

Sparta has trouble remembering many things but not the first meal I cooked for him. Yellow rice and black beans with corn muffins always elicit the same response "Hey baby, you cooked this for me the first time you cooked for me".  I believe it's true the way to a man's heart is through his stomach at least in the case of my man.

Is this sentimentalization of foods insane? I don't think so but..............