When I went to BlogHer Food, I got some cool things that I thought you guys might enjoy.
Book #1
How to Eat a Small Country — the book looks interesting and I love the title!
Apron
(sorry about the wrinkles!)
Pink apron that says “I cook for my mom.” I’m embarrassed to say this,
but I’m in the stage where my mom still cooks for me!
Book #2
Every cupcake recipe you can imagine with color photos!
I think this prize pack could be the perfect gift for a mother or a grandmother. To enter to win all three, leave a comment telling me your favorite food memory with your mom, grandma, aunt, sister, or any family member. I’ll choose a winner at random and announce it next weekend!
My favorite food memory is making spaghetti sauce with my mom when I was about five. I was stood up on the kitchen step stool wearing my mini sized blue apron with teddy bears, stirring a vat of pasta sauce with a giant wooden spoon, quoting MacBeth with my Mom "Double, double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble…" Moments like that inspired my love of food and cooking, and I've been cooking with my mom ever since – it's one of our favorite things to do when I come home to visit.
making gnocchi! 🙂
My favorite memory is baking cookies EVERY Christmas with my mom. Everything was homemade – the sugar cookie dough, the frosting, and even some of the candies for decorating. It took FOREVER – especially since it smelled so good. They were always a favorite at our family Christmas, and I remember pointing out to all my relatives that "I made that one" they were about to eat!
Every Christmas my parents would bake gingerbread for houses and we would spend evenings decorating them with candy. I have no idea what our teachers ever did with them after we took them to school!
My beloved late oldest sister Jeanie taught me how to cook. She taught me how to make Wedding Soup, the best pie crust ever, glazed ribs, and chocolate cake from scratch just to name a few. I dearly miss her, but she is with me in the kitchen when I am cooking so all is well.
What a great giveaway! My favorite cooking memory with my mom was when I was growing up in the summer when it came time to can tomatoes. I pretty much HATED it at the time, but now that I am an adult, (and I done it myself a few times) I really appreciate all the effort she put into canning those tomatoes for her family. Every year when I can tomatoes now, I always think of her in the kitchen early on weekend mornings blanching, peeling, pureeing and putting up all those tomatoes.
One of the memories I laugh about was my favorite meal as a kid: rice and beans My mom would put white rice in milk, topped with butter, cinnamon, & sugar. The side would include baked beans (or canned peas if we were out.) It was by far my most requested meal, even on my birthday! Now rice and beans is my daughter's favorite, although I hope it's healthier, as it's usually brown rice/spanish rice with veggies/basmati rice and black beans. We usually throw in some fresh veggies and/or herbs for good measure.
i was in the hospital with a small tumor in my left temporal lobe. I could barely keep food down because of the chemo. My mom would bring all of my favorites and I had two options.
1. Eat the food, enjoy it, then puke it up right after.
2. Stare at it the whole time.
But I never asked her to stop cooking for me. It was the way she demonstrated her love. It was her love language.
One day when I was well enough to go home, my mother suggested we bake together. We made muffins and cupcakes and cookies and started a roast for dinner. It was a day of laughter and heavenly smells and love. And that night, that dinner…..I kept the food down.
Thank God for mothers who ALWAYS know what to do.
My favorite food memory is with my grandmother on my father's side. When I was a little girl and I would go visit her, she would always make dinner rolls from scratch. I remember helping her make the dough and then we would go play and I was always amazed when we came back and the dough had risen! My favorite part of the whole process though, was when we got to roll the dough into balls and put it in the pans. She had a big round pan for herself and she would make big dinner rolls, and for me she had this little tiny pan that looked just like hers. I would roll tiny pieces of dough into balls and put them into my butter greased pan just like she did. After we cooked the rolls we would save the big ones for dinner, but we would always split the pan of my tiny rolls as a snack together. My grandmother has alzheimers now and doesn't remember making rolls with me, but I will always remember these special days with her. I will hold on to the memory for her even when she can't.
My favorite cooking memory comes from Christmas time. My parents used to bake various candies every year and give boxes of them out as gifts. During school, I would come home when they were finishing for the day. But once the holidays started… yum! I can still remember waking up the first morning of Christmas break to smell candy baking. I would run into the kitchen to help (and sample, obviously- I was an official taste tester). I was really upset when they decided they didn't want to do it anymore.
Last year I started making them myself!
I always wanted to like the bowl and my Mom never quite leaving as much as I wanted. She said she had to use it to make the cake. Not quite what a kid wants to hear. By the way, there always was plenty for my sister and I to eat. We just always wanted more raw goo. 😉
My Great-Aunt always had a home cooked meal for us when we'd visit. Her house smelled WONDERFUL with ham, scalloped potatoes and roasted veggies in the oven. And if we were lucky, maybe a piece of her homemade banana cream pie for dessert. =)
A few years ago my grandmother had to stay with my mom and I because she was recovering from having a pace maker put in. We had a single story home, so it was easier for her to get around than in her two story home. One night when she was feeling better, she proposed an idea for dinner since my mom and I were fresh out. It was this wonderful baked dish with stuffing, chicken, fresh salsa, and made with tons of love. Even better than the food, was that all three of us crammed into our tiny kitchen to all help make it together. Mom cut the chicken, while grandma worked on making just the right mix of spices, and I pulled out whatever they needed. To top off the night, we all sat down together and had a delicious warm meal to chase away to cool November weather.
mom hated to cook, and when i moved back in with her in my mid-twenties i did all the cooking. she loved everything i made — simple, easy stuff, but she was so impressed. her only complaint was the kitchen always smelled like the garlic i had sitting in a bowl. after dinner we'd sit on the back porch and watch the sunset, and once i pointed out how neither of us were bit by mosquitoes all summer she quit complaining about the garlic.