Gradually, I have been moving away from a convenience mindset and toward a whole foods approach to eating and preparing food. Instead of reaching for a bag of cheese curls, chips, or pretzels, I reach for a piece of fresh fruit (which needs to be washed and occasionally peeled and sliced), some nuts and/or dried fruit (I've recently rediscovered dried figs--YUM) or I make a smoothie. My kids love to snack on homemade bread with real butter.
At breakfast yesterday, I felt like a domestic genius. The night before, I dragged out the crockpot (for the first time in years). Then, I added six cups of filtered water and two cups of steel cut oats, plugged it in, turned the dial to "low," and went to bed. The next morning, the kids and I enjoyed our hot, creamy porridge with locally made Amish butter (from Whole Foods) and organic maple syrup (on sale at The Turnip Truck). By 8:00 a.m., all three of us had been fed. That may be a record.
Last week, my mom and grandmom came to visit. My grandmom made a cup of coffee while I was in the bathroom. As soon as I smelled the coffee, I remembered all the Saturday and Sunday mornings I used to wake up at her house. Memories flooded my mind as I walked down the hall wondering what scents will trigger memories for my own children.
Recently, while I was making steel cut oats on the stove, Judah said, "I smell oatmeal!" The aroma of coffee wafting through my house made me realize how little we enjoy "slow" cooking. All the recipes I'm interested in can be put together in approximately 15- 20 minutes. Am I robbing my children of a way to remember their childhood by preparing everything so quickly?
Grandmom's house always smells so wonderful when something's simmering on the stove or baking in the oven. In my mind, I can see her soft hands peeling the skin off tomatoes while her black, cast iron skillets sit on the stove. A homemade dessert usually sits on the counter begging me to save room. I rarely do at Grandma's house. However, I can usually make room for her moist chocolate cake with brown sugar icing.
Knowing they're my favorites, she always makes her famous lima beans and chicken soup with homemade noodles when I'm coming over. I can see her kitchen clearly. Not much about it has changed over the past 25 years. It's one of my favorite places to be.
I'm so thankful for my Grandma and her slow cooking. Even though I don't like the taste of coffee at all, I LOVE the aroma. I'm sure it's because it reminds me of weekends spent with my grandparents.
4 comments:
I look forward to trying that oatmeal....just have to get the steel cut oats.
By the way, we've been wanting to try those Amish butter rolls at WF, but that's a lot of butter to use up if you don't like it. So you like it, then?
Thanks for your yummy posts!
Oh...smells of grandmothers and food, yummy thoughts! Glen teases me that all of my childhood memories revolve around food. "I remember when I....and we ate..." or the first time I had..." It is slightly comical.
I grew up next to my grandmother and we ate dinner at her house every night. My whole family (mom, dad, two sisters, grandmother, two great aunts, and aunt all around one table together every night. Being "shooed" from the kitchen.
We just went up to Kentucky to visit my other grandparents over the weekend. Again, food galore. My grandmother has got to be, hands down, the best "homemade southern food" cook in the world. Any friends and anyone who has married into our family agrees. Vegetables coming out our eyes, homemade rolls, desserts, you name it.
Good thing I don't live there, huh?
I'm so thankful my kids still get to go visit there and are going to have all those great, sweet, yummy memories like I do. There's nothing like grandmothers, farms, and food :o)
Oh...smells of grandmothers and food, yummy thoughts! Glen teases me that all of my childhood memories revolve around food. "I remember when I....and we ate..." or the first time I had..." It is slightly comical.
I grew up next to my grandmother and we ate dinner at her house every night. My whole family (mom, dad, two sisters, grandmother, two great aunts, and aunt all around one table together every night. Being "shooed" from the kitchen.
We just went up to Kentucky to visit my other grandparents over the weekend. Again, food galore. My grandmother has got to be, hands down, the best "homemade southern food" cook in the world. Any friends and anyone who has married into our family agrees. Vegetables coming out our eyes, homemade rolls, desserts, you name it.
Good thing I don't live there, huh?
I'm so thankful my kids still get to go visit there and are going to have all those great, sweet, yummy memories like I do. There's nothing like grandmothers, farms, and food :o)
When I'm home in MN, I beg my Mom to make her spaghetti from scratch. Then, I go outside... so I can step in and smell "home." I do that about once an hour while it simmers all day. Nothing makes me feel safer and more loved than the smells of growing up.
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