Food as a Stamp

How we prepare food and present it, is as important to those of us who love to cook, as the style of clothing one wears, is to a fashion maven. Recipes are a guideline after one gets the hang of cooking. From there we add a little of this herb and ignore that spice in the list of ingredients. Perhaps we’ll follow the recipe to a tee, but go heavier on one spice because we love it so; or add a different vegetable or two, or vary the fruit that is listed. It becomes an original creation. It doesn’t always work but it is always worth a try. It’s called exploring.

So, by simply changing an herb or adding something to the original recipe, or plating the food in a different manner, we put our own personal stamp on the food being prepared. It’s like the initials of a clothing designer.

RECIPES REMEMBERED

Recipes made become memories. I mean, who doesn’t have a personal story about a holiday dinner. True, some of them were disasters but after time passes, they become remembrances to laugh over together and to share with others. Many of our family/friend stories revolve around food. Have we not gathered together to share a meal and to share our stories while we eat that meal? The wine we drank with the food (after I grew up) made the stories flow a bit easier and maybe a bit exaggerated, but who checks anyway.

Birthdays. My mother always allowed my two brothers and me to choose our menu for our birthdays. She didn’t say “choose your menu” rather she said, “What do you want for your birthday supper?” That always came before what kind of cake did we want. These were hard choices to make for a child with a healthy appetite. Mom was a dynamite cook.

For me it came down to Southern Fried Chicken --with Milk Gravy –she made the best, or Fried Ripe Tomatoes, Mashed Potatoes, & Milk Gravy. She was always nervous, fearing someone knocking on the door when we were eating the fried tomato dinner, thinking it looked like mush and didn’t look proper enough for a dinner. I could have cared less what it looked like. Ahhh. Memories of youth.

Sometimes I get sidetracked from my present writing project, which has been to complete my “Ghosts of Upper Piedmont & Beyond” (working title) by the end of June. It isn’t going to happen. I’ve been writing at least three hours a day on “Recipes & Remembrances” a fund raising cookbook for my Woman’s Club. The press for its completion is the desire to have it available for sale before the Christmas season. We all know that is key to the success of sales which of course is the goal of this project.

Staying true to my desire in writing about local history and memories, our cookbook has a section for a personal note at the end of each recipe entered. Hence, the title. Recipes are sometimes personal. Who hasn’t remarked at the Thanksgiving (or Christmas, Hanukkah, Easter, etc.) table “As long as I can remember, we’ve had this dish on our table come each _____ holiday.”

In addition to recipes, I also have several items that I use in cooking or serving that are dear to me because of who gave them to me. Using those pieces keeps me connected to the giver even if I don’t see them often or if they have passed away.