Passions

I am passionate about food, manners, self-defense, family, Christmas, and entertainment!

These things, I must say, come naturally to me mainly because it was how I was raised and what I knew that I really loved. Because I can go on and on about all these passions, it’s probably best to start at the beginning and work my way around. I think I’m not alone here; many of you probably feel the same, at least on a few of these things, and you might find similarities in my journey to discovery to yours. They will all make for a fun story and a good read. 

I will break down each of these hobbies or passions in a different blog and then tie them together to help you understand how all this is part of who I am. I can probably describe the “t,” and yeah, tea, that’s another thing I’m passionate about and will explain later, but for now, here’s the story of the first passion…

FOOD!

Food is simple to explain because I was raised on fantastic home cooking. There was no shortage of stout cooks in my family. My great-grandmother could always be found in her kitchen. Well, I got a peek, at least, she was particular and had to have things just right, and we kids just got in the way of her flow, so we sat in the living room, just inhaling the smells. She had a swing kitchen door, and I’d peek over each time it swung open; I wanted to see the creator create. We ate at her house for Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and big family dinners. She’d bring out one dish at a time, swing that door open, and come with her apron on, bringing out massive plates. Size didn’t compensate for taste; she just made lots of food. Nolte could put it away and then make room for seconds! Great Grandma Brown always made homemade bread, pies, savory dishes, and course meals to make a king table look like a pauper. Food was abundant there, and the moment you pulled up into her driveway, you could smell the warmth and deliciousness of the food that was yet to be plated. Her homemade rolls with real butter were as big as your fist, and she knew it was good, too. She’d watch out of the corner of her eye to see the satisfied souls feasting and smiling, licking their lips.

She also had a lovely table set up. Fancy butter dishes, special butter knives, small crystal plates, ceramic platters, shiny silverware, nice table cloth, and oversized, heavy wooden chairs around a large wooden table. This didn’t make food taste different but helped you mind your manners. When it comes to table manners, this is the side of the family where those became instilled, but that’s a whole other story.  In fact, a story I’ve written a book about that hopefully will be available this year! But back to Great Grandma Brown, my top 2 favorite things she made were and will always be her homemade bread and pecan pie. 

These two recipes were handed down to me, and I’ve made these items for my loved ones over the years, and they are always crowd favorites!

My grandmother “GG,” was also an excellent cook. Her food delights were 3 main dinner meals, which are all still my favorite dinners to this day: flat enchiladas, seafood gumbo, and a tangy yet savory chicken dish she designed called Filipino chicken. She also baked; one dessert that could win a blue ribbon at a fair is her homemade chocolate chip cookies! These beautiful delights as big as your hand delights were crunchy, chewy, soft, and sweet, melted in your mouth, closed your eyeballs, licked your lips, hummed to yourself, and dang good!!

Her cookies would make these new fad cookie shops seem amateur to the taste! She’s almost 90 years old and still makes these delicious homemade chocolate chip cookies!

If I ever had a last meal request this would be it:

1. Homemade from the kitchen crispy tacos, sour cream and plenty of salsa.

2. A Mexican Coke 

3. My GG’s Chocolate chip cookies (w pecans)

My GG would bake them in a big glass cookie jar or piles of foil because she made so many. When she gets in the mood, she wreaks havoc in the kitchen; this woman could make herself busier than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs! 

These cookies also explain another children’s book I wrote. It’s titled I Love Cookies. I wrote it several years ago and read it again and again to little and older ones, and everyone loves the book. I also hope to have this one out this year. I’ve been seeking illustrators; I have a good idea of how I want the pages designed and illustrations, but I have yet to nail down the perfect one for the job. Nonetheless, the cookies were part of my joy growing up! GG always sings when she bakes, dances, laughs, is just the happiest, and has the most fun serving her kids and grandkids. What a woman, what a cookie!

Now, because my dad’s mother and grandmother were AMAZING at creating meals, dishes, and treats, he naturally gained that skill! Boy, am I ever grateful, too; my dad was the main cook in the house; my mom, yeah, not so much. She was much better at cleaning the house, running errands, and tending to us kids, and that was plenty.  She would make simple food like a garden salad, fruit salad, or potato salad… I don’t recall her making anything besides brownies from a box. who doesn’t love brownies from a box? (Although my dad did make them better!)

Poor mom won’t get props for this blog post, but she did enjoy all the delicious meals my dad made. He would make Homemade fried chicken, biscuits, BBQ, gumbo, fajitas, waffles, tacos (heaven food), homemade ice cream, homemade spaghetti sauce, venison, fried fish, dove, and even fried liver and grilled onions. They were awesome! We had iron skillets; you can’t get much better than that; boy, everything looked beautiful in that skillet! 

We had a super tiny kitchen, but that never stopped him. We even had an ironing board that came out of the wall; he’d use that for extra counter space, andit worked! My dad made EXCELLENT cookies, the same GG recipe but different; he claims it’s a little different, and I’m not complaining because they are both divine! In that cookie book I wrote, he’s the baker in the story. He’d always tell me, “I have a secret recipe”! We even operated and owned an ice cream parlor for a few years. He always made us kids a special ice cream treat called Daddy’s Delight. To this day, it’s still a special treat, and even now, I’m passing it on to my step kids. But my grown kids and nieces and nephews will say to someone in the family when they are having a sweet tooth with enthusiasm… “Can we have Daddy’s Delight?”  We served it, Daddy’s Delight, at Club Madrid Gras Ice Cream Parlor in Santa Fe, and it was the top seller! 

Back in my household kitchen, my dad knew of my interest in cooking because he knew my interest in food! I was the last to leave the table. I’d sit next to my dad, mainly because he liked to tell stories and always had a funny joke; he’d serve our plates and with abundance, correct our table manners if needed, and we’d dig in. I never understood why my brother was a picky eater, why my baby sister would take her time, or why my older sister just ate and left the table; the dinner table was my favorite part of the day. I registered how to make this and that, and he’d let me stir now and again, coat or assist somehow. I was an apprentice cook in the making, and it paid off!

My dad still loves to cook but only uses cast iron, and I’m the cook in my house. I have a hanging rack full of cast iron pans; they are my favorite to cook and bake with and are part of my kitchen decor!

I’m not entirely done with the food and family chefs. There is one more I saved for last. Save the best for last, right? It’s hard to describe my mother’s mother Inez’s cooking and baking. There aren’t words yet in human vocabulary that describe the flawlessness of her craft. I can begin to explain the joy she had for cooking, The joy she had in serving me. She felt the pleasure of serving EVERYONE who walked into her house. She always. I repeat, she ALWAYS had something cooking. She prided herself on the freshest loaf of bread and garden tomatoes that sat in the kitchen window, sealed as big as the smile on your face. She used the top of her washing machine for a makeshift sandwich-making station. She had a toaster oven to make us grandkids melted cheese toast in between meals just because, and her cokes were ice cold with bits of ice in the can; she was never short of popsicles or moon pies, fruit, or miracle whip for hand pressed ham sandwiches or hamburgers with all the fixings.  She used an iron skillet for burger patties as thick and spread out as your hand. You could smell the savory meat cooking in lard from around the corner in your car with the windows rolled up when she made burgers! When you pulled up to the driveway, your mouth was already watering! 

I could not believe how beautiful the color of her chicken and dumplings were; the pot was as tall as her stove; I could only visualize angels hovering over her house just smelling her chicken and dumplings. She boiled a whole-fat fryer, peeled the chicken, and made the broth from scratch from the stock with the simplest but perfect spices and creamy thick soup that filled your belly; it was like eating a four-course meal in one bowl! 

Her homemade meatballs, meatloaf, spaghetti, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and potato salad, and her trifecta of hot meals is her legendary cornbread dressing and gravy. God had his hand in her cooking; it was all in abundance and heavenly. Her food presentation is more attractive than any food magazine I’ve ever seen!

But that’s not all…this woman was balanced. She equally baked as excellently as she cooked! Take your pick of pies; we always did, and she was so proud of them, she’d smile, giggle, and say, “They sure are pretty, aren’t they? Hehe. ” Chocolate chiffon, coconut cream, lemon chiffon, pecan pies, fruit pies. I want one slice in each hand, please. There is one dessert, however, that sets her apart from pies. It was the most beautiful, soft, moist, sweet, HUGE, PERFECT cake. It was her epic Coconut cake! I’ve never seen such a beautiful baked good; it seriously takes the cake, ha! I’d swear that cake was as tall as the mad hatter’s hat! 

Grandma Inez didn’t have air conditioning, but it was in the bedrooms. Her windows in the living room and kitchen would always be up. She was so busy in her little moo and sandals, and she’d have a little sweat on her brow. She rarely sat down because she was always making someone a plate! Then they had to have seconds! 

My Grandma Inez, hands down, was the best cook and baker I’ve ever encountered. She loved to cook and even loved to go to the butcher and market first thing in the morning. She also enjoyed others’ cooking/baking at a church social but was verbally under her breath when she disapproved. She’d always make sure one of us kids would hear her. “Um, not as good as mine,” she’d say, but look at the person, smile, and talk under her teeth, haha!  

She became my pen pal when I moved out of the state and wrote down some of these recipes; these letters and recipes are true treasures to me. I hold mini-epic stories close to my heart, and if I think hard enough, I can smell her cooking! 

My Grandma Inez was one of the best storytellers I knew. I not only learned cooking and baking skills from her but also the ability to tell a story in a way that captures the audience; she was excellent at it, and I believe my storytelling is part of her, and I’m grateful for her love and desire to show her love through food and stories. Food is love to me. Sharing stories is also love, and that’s why I’m so passionate about it.

I’ve been to Germany and have had epic meals, and in Spain, again, epic meals, but some of my best meals have been in my family’s kitchen and mine. Here’s to your joy of food; I wonder if this story made you hungry. If so, Bon appétit!