My life part two.

Becoming a Grable was a easy transition for me. They were such caring and loving people. I don't believe there was really anytime that passed before I started referring to them as "Mom" and "Dad". They made me feel wanted way before I became their child. I would be the only child they ever had together.

I remember one of my first meals. Mashed taters. I am sure there was more to this meal besides just mashed taters but they are what I remember. My Mother was a Southern bell and every meal was eaten at the dinner table with a salad, main course that consisted of three things on your plate, and of course dessert. Sugar free dessert as my Dad was diabetic. A cheating diabetic because Im pretty sure all those Dove bars he consumed had a sugar in them. We also always had a water glass, a separate glass for some sort of other liquid, cloth napkins and  enough silver ware for a family of 12. (Not really but you get the point) Mashed Taters. I remember when they were set on the table I dove right into them with my hands. I was stuffing them in my mouth faster then i could swallow them. My Mom would later tell me that I did this a lot when I first came to their home. We figured it had to with the fact that I didnt get much to eat prior to living with them. I seriously doubt I ever shoveled any of her brussle sprouts in my mouth though or the green peas for that matter. I Imagine eating those required some threats on their part. Brussle sprouts still make me gag and peas still make me think of eating rollie pollies.

Im sure my Mom was amazing cook. I do have one fond memory of a rice, chicken and broccoli recipe she used to make and was actually able to duplicate it as a adult even though I never knew her recipe. I did however remember the taste. In my childhood memories I remember a lot of her meals coming out of what was probably a new thing back then. the dreaded microwave. Something I hate to use now unless I am making tea or reheating food. Even then I tend to re heat my food in the oven. I still get squeamish thinking about her hamburgers and how they looked when she took them out of the microwave. Grey and slimy. I ate them though. She could however make a mean cinnamon toast and make anyone want to chow down on a some grapefruit.

Baking was a big thing in our household. If their was a holiday we made sugar cookies that would fit with the theme of whatever the holiday was. My memories are like photos in a photo album. So I have all these different photos in my head of me sitting on our back porch swing holding heart shaped cookies, Christmas tree shaped cookies, clover shaped cookies, pumpkin shaped cookies, easter bunny shaped cookies, cookies shaped like whatever holiday we may have been celebrating at the time. Another cookie of my Mothers that I remember were her forgotten cookies. I think she only made these to teach me how to be patient. the tricks parents play. We would set the oven, make the cookies, turn oven off, put cookies in oven and then have to wait ALL night before we could take them out and eat them. I think the fact that I had to wait for what seemed forever in my child brain is what made them taste so good. because as an adult my step Mom found me the recipe and after making them they didnt taste as good as i remembered them tasting. They now taste like you are eating a spoonful of sugar that causes your mouth to feel furry when you are done. Funny how your senses change as you grow older. She also liked to make fruit cake but we wont talk about that because lets face it, they are nasty. Nasty then and still nasty now. Kind of like brussle sprouts and peas.

My Dad was a amazing cook!! He had a gift for BBQ ribs and to this day i still havent found a rib that could hold a candle to his ribs. he would wake early to put them in the smoker and then let them smoke all day. they were always fall off the bone make my mouth sing a happy tune good. I have never tried to make ribs as a adult because i dont want to tarnish the memory I have of his ribs. Plus Knowing me I would become obsessed with trying to get them just like his and as our memories tend to go I dont think i could ever live up to his ribs. they have been built up to long in my head that there is no way I could ever compete with my own taste bud memories. Another thing he used to cook that sticks out in my head is his egg rolls. He would make them from scratch. I can remember sitting on a stool and be amazed by how he would roll them. It was like some sort of orgami project with a fold here a tuck here and then some rolling and wa lah. I think Mr. Miyagi should have used egg roll rolling to teach Daniel a thing or two.

Food time was a such a big thing in our family. It was when we came together as a family. Every meal we sat together around the table. I don't have any in depth memories of what we talked about but I do know it was a peaceful time. We were a family who all liked our food and loved eachother. I know my Mom cooked a lot in the microwave because she was a school teacher and didnt have a lot of free time to do fancy meals but she made up for that with her fancy table settings. I also know that they are why I have such a love for cooking. There were a lot of times we would all be in the kitchen together preparing a meal. Well they were preparing a meal I was probably just being annoying. You wouldnt have known it though. because I was a Grable, I was a part of their family. Maybe I was their entertainment while they cooked....or maybe I was debating with them about how eating brussle sprouts and peas was a form of child abuse.

(I sat down to write this post and was expecting to just go through the years. Some how it turned into a post about food. I dont know why but I find this process to be interesting. How writing my life story is kind of writing itself. Sitting down with a specific post I want to write and then just having something different flow out of my fingers. Reliving all this is also quite wonderful.)