If anything gets you thinking of family memories it’s food and cooking. What do you wait for during the holidays? Those dishes that only get prepared once a year, right? I love food and cooking. I love it so much I became the designated family cook in the family after my mother had to give the job away. I had the patience to cook the food in that “old-fashioned” way that let the flavors simmer.
Cooking in our home meant starting a few days before the holiday meal. Preparations went well beyond just making the food list. It meant cutting, washing, mixing, pre-cooking, real cooking, and final cooking. Holiday cooking was a real chore. Though I seldom feel like really cooking anymore, I don’t have the heart not to. When family comes to my house for the holidays, they make it clear that they come for the home-cooked meal.
I can’t deny that I enjoy how everyone eats until their stomachs are stuffed. Then they sit around waiting for an inch of room to get into their stomachs so they can stuff them again with more food.
Memoirs around food and cooking can fit into almost any family memoir. Who was the designated cook in your family for the holidays? Was it you? Write about your experiences with learning to be the cook. What was it like the first time, waiting to get reactions from your meal? Do you still carry on the traditions or have you started to give the responsibility to another member of the family?