Ability

When I was growing up my mom didn't teach me a great deal about cooking. I would get 'cooking lessons' via the phone while she was at work. She would call me around 4 PM and tell me what I was cooking and how to cook it. Eventually when I became proficient at a certain meal she would just tell me to cook that for dinner and I would.

You need to understand we didn't have a huge variety of dinners - it was mostly swiss steak, mock chow mein (i know, trust me, i know), and various other meals that I have blocked from my memory. Yes, blocked. There aren't many things I make now that I was taught to make when I was younger.

So, when I was married I ventured out and began making meals my mother never even dreamt of making. Things like chicken cordon bleu, homemade fried chicken, fettuccine alfredo, etc. My mom would tell others that I was a 'gourmet cook'. Ha! She is so funny! (and cute)

I am grateful for the ability that I have to learn new recipes and then to incorporate what we like into our meals. I am grateful for the variety of foods we eat (though there would be more if Pat's tummy could handle them).

What brought this up? Last night as Pat and I were talking about Thanksgiving I told him that our girls didn't cook the traditional turkey. He asked what they cooked instead. So, I told him - swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, stuffing (heated up from Trader Joe's, but quite delicious I am told), fresh green beans, Aunt Bev's homemade rolls (to die for, really), and for dessert - pumpkin squares and apple pie.

I guess what I should really be grateful for is that our daughters had a great deal of experience in the kitchen, so much so that they feel 'at home' there, just like I do.