Good ol' Family Fun

Food, we all love it, especially when someone else is cooking it! My family used to be well known for gatherings; whether you were family or friends everyone was welcome to pull up a plate. We had a big family that my mom loved to cook for and she is a good one at that. Our family celebrates traditional holidays Christmas,Memorial Day,4Th of July etc...) like a lot of other families. More often before everyone grew up and; said Author Garrison Keillor of "A Wobegon Holiday Dinner", "the next year we....and after that we broke apart into separate single-family Thanksgivings" (227) moves away. Once all the kids flew the coop mom and dad started eating out more. When asked why, mom told us that it was too hard to cook for two people when you are use to cooking for eight most of your life. If you ask me, I could get used to cooking for only two people instead of my six.
The family holiday that meant/means the most to me is Christmas. For reasons of not only giving and worshiping, but for the gathering of family, friends and FOOD For years are family did our traditional ham and turkey (to please all) and the rest of the wonderfully delicious salad and side dishes. Rolls, yummy, soft, melt in your mouth without butter rolls where always left up to grandma to make. Wow, my mouth is watering, is yours? My aunt would always make her potato dish and other people brought their favorite dishes as well. Mom of course did the ham and turkey but also the desserts. Mom made a special dessert for everyone of us kids and of course dad. Nobody else knew that they were specially made for us. She made the traditional pumpkin pies and berry pies to suffice others, but ours were special. Dad was made a strawberry rhubarb pie, one of my younger sisters would get a German chocolate cake, another would get her cheesecake and another would get an angel food cake. Me, I got the best dessert of all, it was called, the "chocolate surprise". In a second post, I will gladly share my recipe with you, and you too can see why it is the best!!!!!
After years of the same old thing, mom actually wanted to try something else. What is it you ask, well I'll tell you. Each year we took turns of picking something out that we wanted, something out of the "norm". One year it was homemade pizza, next Chinese, then a seafood feast, tacos and many other wonderful food. Every meal that we had in our house you could always find dad to be the first one seated. Also, dad was always seated at the "head" of the table and mom got whatever was left over. We are all grown and have family of our own and some live in different states; it is very rare if we all make it to one holiday together anymore. I wish we could be together every holiday, "Life is good. Even when it is lousy it is still good..." (231) quoted from "A Wobegon Holiday Dinner", by Garrison Keillor. All I have to do is think about the smells of mom's kitchen, and I'm home!!!!