Warming Dishes and My Heart

This holiday season as we gather around dinner tables, Christmas trees, packages and more it is the opportune time to share family memories and tales from our past holidays.

Those of us who have families still gathering together are blessed. We can share memories as we celebrate our life today. And, we can give thanks for the many blessings of now and the past with gratitude.

We are living in a fast pace time! Too fast, and too digital. Our hectic lives do not foster time for face-face communication. Without focus and intention many children today will never know the close family and caring neighbors I remember from my childhood. My heart goes out to every child that will never have the hands on caring ways I had as a child.
There is no time like the present to give honor to those special times of childhood and the generation of loved ones that are no longer with us.

Memories are precious keepsakes of our childhood, our home, our parents……. “our story.” Memories are stored away within the channels of our mind. When I look back to special times lived on The Lane it is refreshing to my heart. I feel warm and happy even though our life was modest to say the least. I will tell you what I believe to be true….. remembering those times puts me in touch with an era soon to be forgotten. Remembering family and friends is medicine for my soul. I realize not everyone may have happy memories to draw on. I hope that those individuals can find peace with the past and work to create memories of their own for their future.

Thumbing through old recipes warms my heart makes me feel close to the loved ones that are no longer here to share holidays. Many of the names on the recipe cards are from friends of my grandma’s.

Now I also realize “recipe cards” are no longer used or needed. We have the ability to GOOGLE anything known to man. The sad thing is most of the old “recipe cards” were handwritten by the individual sharing. Looking at my old cards, I remember many of those people clearly as I touch the card they lovingly wrote. I now know not only were the recipes filled with tried and true dishes, but were filled with love, moments in time, and friendship from their own kitchens.

My grandmother died long ago however I will never forget the sweet smells from her kitchen especially at holiday time. I have written before my grandma’s description of her cooking was….. “Oh it’s nothing fancy but it’s fit to eat!” For an 8-year-old being in grandma’s kitchen underfoot was a magical time to remember for sure! I can see her dressed in her working apron reaching for her old recipes. I see her going to the flour box in the corner of the kitchen with the measuring cup in hand. She was adding flour to a large wooden mixing bowl used for her dish. She rarely studied a recipe, but merely gave it a glance. She worked from her memory. She added her own touches with a little bit of this and a dash of that. She never used a timer to tell if her creations were ready! Just a look at the dish in the oven and she could tell if it was done. I remember the scent of apples, cinnamon and maple syrup melting together. Yum, one of the many sweet aromas that came from grandma’s kitchen. She was making fried apple pies! If I get a hint of those aromas today it takes me back to her. In the channels of my memory as I look back at my grandmother’s nothing fancy recipes I feel blessed to have the special moments and memories of the time spent with her. I was one of the fortunate ones.

I’ve come to the heart-wrenching awareness that I need at least another lifetime to learn how to cook like she did but….. I only have today if I’m lucky! Truth be told… I am at the season of life where I do more warming than scratch cooking like grandma, Mable.

So, warming dishes and warming my heart is a big piece of my holidays. And, setting a pretty table!!!

Millie’s quote for the day: “The table is a meeting place,...a gathering ground...the source of substance and nourishment festivity safety and satisfaction.” (Unknown).

If you rarely sit around a table with your children/family….if only at holiday times make a genuine effort to sit down with one another.  And, for goodness sake make a conscious effort to stay away from controversial subjects. Holiday time should not be marred by differences of opinion.