I loved my grandmother
dearly. She loved me back
unconditionally.
Our family spent many
Thanksgivings in grandma’s small apartment, and she made a great effort to
serve us a truly traditional meal. I
know now she had grown tired of cooking.
As her husband progressed up the University ladder, she hosted many
meals for the faculties and staff of several universities. By the time I came along, grandpa was very
ill, and they were reduced to living on a pittance. Medical bills took it all.
She would serve a turkey,
stuffing, two kinds of potatoes, onions in a crème sauce, peas, Brussel sprouts, rolls, and two kinds of pie that’s she baked herself with two kinds of whipped
cream. I remember two things about these
special days. She would keep her oven
door closed with a broom stick, and her stuffing was the best stuff I ever had.
For years I tried to
duplicate her stuffing. More butter,
less butter, chicken soup, no chicken soup…always with minced onion, dried
bread, sage, and celery. The basic
stuffing. Mother added chestnuts or
oysters to hers, but I wanted the flavors of my childhood.
One year when we were in
the Lotus Street cottage, I was mixing the Thanksgiving stuffing on an extra
small counter. My hands were
greasy. The saltcellar slipped into the
stuffing bowl. I hurriedly scooped as
much salt as I could from the bread bits, stuffed and roasted the bird. When it came out of the oven, that stuffing
tasted just like my grandma’s. Exactly.
I’ve laughed about it ever
since. I didn't know my grandmother over-salted
everything, but she did an especially good job of salting my Thanksgiving memories.
Here's to our grandmother's and their cooking, and good memories. Happy Thanksgiving Mage.
ReplyDeleteI love your story, a sweet memory of your grandmother. Any more to come? I hope so! This one was beautiful.
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving to you!
P.S. Great photo!
ReplyDeleteLove the story. Happy Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteToo much salt.
ReplyDeleteI like your TG memory, even if I find it in-SALT-ing. (Sorry, sometimes I can't help myself. :)
ReplyDeleteAs for previous posts, yes, the internet continues to change life. We never watch local news but I sometimes catch out national news on our news channels at night. They are actually pretty good -- but nothing local, of course.
How super to find the secret so randomly. I'll bet she had a quiet smile.
ReplyDelete