Childhood memories

mem-o-ries: the mental faculty of retaining and recalling past experiences.

We all have them. Some, we'd rather forget. Childhood memories and those steeped with tradition are a constant companion of mine. Always welcome. Often humorous. Rewarding and motivational when I'm in the kitchen. The majority of mine revolve around my mother....and her ability to feed five children. Dinner, began with a salad, and was always eaten at the dining room table. Grace said. Plates filled and conversation commenced about one's day. You ate everything you put on your plate. You asked permission to be excused from the table. I chuckle now as I think back on it. Does that seem old fashion? Do families still do that today?

I was my mother's sous-chef....and hated every minute of it! Complained nightly about my brothers minimal list of chores and my bothersome kitchen duties! Oh, to have that time back again. I would ask questions; retaining all the tidbits of information. I'd be eager to learn from a master. Well, she wasn't really a master...but under her tutelage, I did become a decent cook.

My fondest memory is of all of us sitting around the dining room table. It was covered in newspaper. The holiday season was approaching and it was time to make the nut rolls. Buying shelled walnuts at Winn-Dixie was a luxury. One we could never afford. My mother would buy bulk bags of whole walnuts, and we'd sit for hours, cracking them....sneaking a few when she wasn't looking....and laughing because we didn't think she knew. She knew.

It's not just the preperation of that holiday tradition....but the emotions that are evoked when you taste it again after so many years. This past Christmas, my sister-in-law and her husband baked homemade nut rolls for family & friends. I can remember standing at the counter, slicing into it and popping a piece into my mouth. I was ten years old again. In my mother's kitchen. Eating a slice of her nut roll. A memory so strong, tears welled up in my eyes. It was the most precious gift I had been given in a long time.

Truest words ever spoke...

Virginia Woolf once said....One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well. Truest words every spoken. Food fills my every waking thought. What's on my list? When and where will I shop for it? What new way can I prepare it? Which tried and true recipe will I pull out today? How ambitious do I feel? All that time & energy put into one meal....was it all worth it?

Food. One single taste. An aroma. It can take you back to another place in time. Last night.....a recent vacation....or sitting around the kitchen table as a young child. Memories. Traditions.

Preparing food. It's a chore. A hobby. My passion in life.