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On CookingLisa J. Cihlar
I think I come by my joy in cooking and feeding people from my grandma Mabel. It did not take much to make an occasion worthy of stretching out the Duncan and Fife table with all of its leaves and loading it down with our favorites. Always there were relish trays, pickles, both sweet and dill, black and green olives, pickled beets and carrot sticks. Cranberry relish was always on the table too, and it had to be the jellied kind that held the shape of the can. These were all served on old cut glass, divided trays. Next came the main meal. The meat was the centerpiece. Grandma’s chicken was legendary. To this day, no one can do it quite as well as she did. The pieces were placed in a cake pan and baked with some butter and salt and pepper. That’s it, but the chicken that came out of her old stove was the best ever. If not chicken, she would make roast. The favorite was pork roast and beef roast cooked in the same pan. One of those old blue speckled, oblong granite roasting pans. The meat was always tender and falling apart. But the best thing about this meal was the gravy. The pork and beef drippings mixed together with flour water made a perfect gravy to be poured over the potatoes and meat and finally sopped up with a last piece of bread. The side dishes were usually frozen corn or french cut green beans. In the fall and winter we were sure to get squash or rutabaga. The rutabaga was peeled and cut into one inch squares and boiled till soft. It was then mashed with butter and one boiled potato to cut the strong flavor. Always there were mashed potatoes. Grandma made the best mashed potatoes. She always peeled the potatoes and cut them in four pieces the long way. They were boiled in salted water until done to the fork, but not falling to mush. Hand mashed with a lump of butter and milk and salt and pepper. Nothing special, yet very special. No one else can compete. And the table was not complete without
Jell-O. Nowadays, people laugh about Jell-o, but 30 years ago it was a
must with every meal. There were a lot of ways with Jell-o, but there
are two that I remember best. First was strawberry Jell-o with sliced
bananas. That was good, but my favorite was orange Jell-o with canned
mandarin orange segments. I loved to eat the Jell-o around each segment
then bite the orange and feel the cold juice fill my mouth. On special occasions like birthdays we always got frosted angel food cake. This was grandma’s specialty covered with a boiled frosting and decorated with candles. So, I cook too. Like my grandmother, and perhaps like my mother, but isn’t it safer for daughters to relate to grandmothers? Lisa J. Cihlar
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