Stick Horse Cowgirls

I had to work yesterday (Saturday, Labor Day weekend, no less!).  I had to travel an hour's drive north to interview some kids in need.  As I often do, I wrangled V to go with me and "meander." We knew of flea markets and home-cookin' cafes up that way to try out.  And, that's just what we did.  I don't often have that kind of meandering time so that, alone, was an indulgence.  We turned my work day into a fun day.   Ummmm, fish eggs...not for me! But the real indulgence came that evening when I nosed around for supper.  First, let me ask you: What do you think of when you think of an "indulgence?"  Is it caviar with champagne?  Is it fine chocolates?   Well, my friends, if that's the case with you, you may be missing out, for as I poked through my pantry, I found a true indulgence: a box of cheeseburger macaroni Hamburger Helper !      Why this processed, full-of-artificials was in my pantry, I have no clue....

I loved V’s post on vintage recipes .  I knew MawMaw—knew V’s other grandmother, too.  Elsie, I must say, was a character—a Wonder Woman.  She was a kind, intelligent woman who could have been really something in today’s world of more opportunity for women—she raised a wonderful son mostly on her own.  Now that I am “of an age” to appreciate what her life was, my hat is off to her.  V has written about her before and must again. But the topic of recipes and meals with grandmothers is what I want to talk about. Both my grandmothers came from country stock.  My paternal Grandmother, Lyda, was accustomed to cooking for farm hands.  She was a humdinger of a cook, too. When we would go to Lyda’s house for Sunday dinner, the re would ALWAYS be these things:  Fried chicken, chicken and dumplings, mashed potatoes, a salad and angel food cake with canned peaches, homemade  biscuits (I don’t remember rolls) and a variety of vegetables.  Th...

Summer is most definitely here.  With the turn of the season, my tastes in food turn, too. We tend toward the meat-heavy in this household, I’m afraid.  Through three-quarters of the year my homemade vegetable soup is chocked-full of vegetables, but there are plenty of chunks of beef in it as well. Now that summer is here, however, we’re tending toward the vegetarian-style, without meat.  There seems to be something about oppressive heat that turns one’s fancy away from red meat—at least in this household.  When the fall crisp hits, we’ll be returning to stews and pot roasts, I can tell you; but for now summer tastes run toward foods like: Sweet iced tea .  Lots of it.  With lemon, please.  Occasionally you will find a slice of lime or sprig of mint in mine, but usually it’s lemon. Fewer sodas and more lemonade —even the sugar-free Crystal light kind.  Just seems to be more hydrating.  Needless to say, our consumption of water goes ...

The October 2010 issue of Psychology Today has an article by  Hara Marano  that has set me thinking.  Let me first say that I am an offender, here.  Let me get stressed, and I’ve been apt to send someone midday for a burger and fries, knowing full well that this is the wrong thing to do.  But this article, for some reason, has hit home to me.  I think that, if I haven’t yet turned the corner away from fast food, at least I am turning…it’s all a process. The article contains the usual bad nutritional  news about fast food.  We all know this: fast food just isn’t good for us.  The article points out that almost all fast food is laced with high-fructose corn syrup (even in fish patties and buns) and that it leads to obesity, clogged arteries, heart attack and high blood sugars.  So, if we know all this, why do we eat it?  Well, for one thing, becaus e it is “fast,” just as the name says.  We’ve stopped expecting to pack lunches...

On the heels of my canned corned beef post and in the spirit of continuing  to share food-related memories, I offer the following: When my son was about fourteen, I made an unusually-rich dessert; a peachy/whipped cream sort of thing.  Best I recall, we split  round cake layers (yellow), poured a little peach nectar over them, layered fresh peaches and whipped cream, then repeated.  It was a huge hit. It looked something like this picture on the left. After dinner and our dessert, my husband and I ran out for an hour or so on an errand.  When we returned, Son was laid out on the sofa holding his tummy, moaning.  “ Mom,”   he said.  “ Do not ever make that dessert again.  I ate so much of it, I never want to see it again.” Sure enough, when I went into the kitchen I found that a huge wedge of the leftover cake was missing, and Son was very sick later that night. Since that time our family has  used the term “ Peach Caked ” as...

This week I made a foray into the beautiful, new, expansive, gourmet Kroger that has just grand-opened in our area.  This gorgeous store with its wide selection of everything from the exotic to the mundane, is entertainment, not grocery shopping.  I mean, how much more thrilling can you get than choosing your own loaf of  “artisan” bread from the bin and dropping it into the slicer? Why, it just makes you want to buy, buy, buy (imagine that).  But I digress… This post is not about gourmet food.  It is about childhood memories and the things I recall eating waaaaaaaaay back then.  And asking: why? We ingested many unhealthy things back then (notably gallons of Kool-Aid), although I believe our diet was likely much healthier than it is today.  We certainly did not eat fast food as a way of life, and Mom cooked from scratch mostly. Still, there are those big questions—mostly centering around “meat products.” What has brought this on is that as ...