5 childhood food memories - a meme

Okay, so nobody tagged me , but when I saw the childhood memories meme by Daniel over at Cook's Journal, I was overcome by the desire to warm myself (and hopefully you) with a few of my food memories. So here are my five top childhood food memories (in no particular order):

1) Being at my Grandmother Knighting's little home when her house was full of the smell of her applesauce cake (which as those of you who have read previous posts know is my Holy Grail of recipes). I can remember like it was yesterday the smell of black walnuts, the cinnamon and cloves, the heavy feel of her cast iron bundt pans even before they were filled with batter and baked. And the result... the dark moist cinnamony cake with plump raisins and the precious black walnuts... I know these smells and tastes will be waiting for me if I ever get to heaven.

2) My mom's fudge. Chocolate-y with nuts(unlike the ones pictured), creamy without even a hint of graininess. I could eat a whole pound. This memory makes it impossible for me to pass a case with fudge in it without stopping (and buying... and eating...)

3) My stepdad's tolerence of my cooking experiments. No matter what I made he could find something good to say about it. I will never forget one time I made a hamburger stroganoff that was to be served over biscuits. I thought it would be really dramatic to make one big biscuit, and so I did. It was heavy, and still doughy on the inside, but still my dad oohed and aahed. I am sure that his tolerance helped give me the confidence to play with food. My stepdad (and actually my biological father whom I barely remember) is in heaven now, and I know that he is not eating any more food experiments, and I hope that he has a moment of pride in the woman and the cook I have become...

4) At my Grandmother McKinney's house when she baked pies she would take the leftover dough and we would spread it with peanut butter or strawberry jam and roll up, cut into pinwheels and bake. Nothing ever tasted as good as those tidbits of flaky dough...

5) My mom's macaroni and cheese... Creamy and cheesy with real cheese not processed. Even though my kids don't see her often that is the food they remember most!
I'm not tagging anyone (I learned my lesson before!), but if you feel like taking a trip down memory lane, consider yourself tagged!

Comments

barb said…
Oh my I think I will do this too since I won't be able to cook for awhile....good idea! Your memories are very close to mine.
s'kat said…
Those are some serious comfort foods!
Freya said…
Wonderful memories! Food really does evoke more nostalgia than anything else I think. Thanks for sharing!
LĂ­dia Lopes said…
Hi Deborah,
I like very much your blog. I will be back often!
Deborah Dowd said…
Doodles- I look forward to reading your post!

Shelley- I don't come from a family of gourmet cooks... but they knew how to make comfort food!

Freya and Paul-I'm glad you enjoyed my walk down memory lane!

Lidia- I enjoyed your blog as well and thanks for stopping by!