Why I Love to Cook

               I have loved to cook for most of my life. I remember taking over the cooking of my morning egg as a kid at home, because Mom overcooked it. I wanted the white cooked, but the yellow still runny enough to dip my toast in.  I do not remember a time I could not cook pancakes from scratch without a recipe, a skill that impresses my grandchildren today. The same goes for cornbread. My dad ate it every day, so I learned to cook it just the way he liked it.  I measured the baking powder on a fork, no need for a measuring spoon.

                After I married Blaine, I joined the family of an outstanding cook, my mother-in-law Elaine. She made fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy almost every Sunday.  She taught me how to cut up a chicken. She also baked bread from a yeast starter she had kept alive since Blaine was a baby, a tradition I am maintaining. Every time I put my yeast out to set, I think of her and the years of “Mama Bread” she baked for her family.

                As a young mother, I baked a sweet treat almost daily. I greeted the children at the door after school with a plate of cookies or brownies and wanted to hear all about their day. We also had fun times cooking together, mixing up Blonde Brownies, Aunt Rosene’s Saucepan Brownies, or my friend Beth’s Soft Sugar Cookies, all of which were best eaten warm from the oven.

               We eat our family meals at the oak pedestal table we inherited that belonged to Blaine’s mother, and before that, his grandmother. This table is the one we gathered around to eat Elaine’s fried chicken, mashed potatoes and homemade bread, all slathered with gravy.  “You are not a true Harvey if you don’t like gravy,” she would tease the grandkids. Then she would tell the story of their great grandpa, who grabbed a slice of angel food cake thinking it was a slice of bread, covered it with gravy and ate it. My father-in-law was also a good cook and after he retired from farming liked to try out new recipes, which he shared with us.
                Why do I love to cook?  I think it is because my favorite recipes are mixed up with memories!