Memories of Food (final)

Memories of Food

Ever since I moved into the Nylund family eight years ago my taste buds have been spoiled with the knowledge of what home food made from scratch tastes like. Along with this fabulous verity of goodness came memories. Some of these where bad, most good, and all involved food in one way or another.
The first thought that popped in my head when on this subject of things eatable was how Gina, my mom’s, homemade mashed potatoes tasted like for the first time. They are always slightly lumpy, with an equally smooth texture to them. Don’t forget the butter and salt measured in by eye balling it and then the potatoes are done. Gina’s mashed potatoes are always every ones favorite, whether it’s for whole family at a holiday gathering, or for just the three of us at dinner time.
One of my dad’s and I’s favorite meals are meat and potatoes. Generally we enjoy are potatoes mashed more than other ways, like baked, but in the end they all work fine. Now as for a meat goes we don’t care what type is put on the plate next to those fabulous mashed potatoes, as long as it is not liver!
Next is the family gatherings, the types of food made depends on what occasion it is, but there are always the favorites that we can’t go without. These are: mom’s mashed potatoes; sour cream and onion dip with chips, some sort of treat from grandma’s cook book, and diet soda or lemonade to drink. My family is huge Diet Coke/ Pepsi drinkers I’m not sure why we enjoy this type of soda, but it must be present when we all get together. Family is a loosely used term because we have close friends that also join us for holidays and some of them even bring their families also so our gatherings are always huge events that bring people together.
Now comes Grandma Mavis goodies, for Christmas Eve when the whole family is in one location she makes sugar cookies. There are at least three decent sized containers full of them. Then in the fourth are the custom marked ones that grandma puts everyone’s name on their own cookie. Mavis also bakes up her cinnamon roles or coffee bread to be eaten Christmas morning at my dad’s house when it’s just our section of the family like my siblings, parents, and the grandparents. When consuming these two dishes the eater knows that they are taking in several calories of sugar, butter, and dough. They are always baked with care and love from Grandma too, and this is why we don’t care and devour her special dishes happily.
At thanksgiving my mom and Grandma bake four pies. One is pumpkin pie, two pecan pies, and the last one changes every year, but I remember it being chocolate some times. There are several other recipes that Mavis bakes but I can’t remember anymore right now. A funny event that happens every year after the turkey and get carved is; all the men and myself stand around the carcass and pick off the remaining meat. We also devour the chips and dip before the main course gets done. During the process of picking and eating we can hear the complaints of “don’t fill up on chips leave room for lunch.” I guess you could call the standing around and eating a weird family tradition because there is two-three generation of kids that participate in the “gathering around the island counter top.”
Birthdays are another reason for the family to get together. Where the party happens depends on whose birthday it is. Everyone always has a good time catching up on what has been happening with one another. As for food at these parties, there is always cake with homemade icing and ice cream. No, not all icings come from cans bought at the store Gina remembered one year at my birthday party my girlfriends were shocked to learn this. As a result my friends stood around the island counter and watched me make icing with fascinated looks on their faces. Along with that we usually eat a meal together before like lunch or dinner.
The food preparations and cooking can be divided in to two categories in my house. First, is stuff cooked on the grill, and everything else that is not fixed on a grill. In this family the men cook sometimes, when the eatable item needs to be done on the grill. Very rarely will you see them cooking on a stove top. The women are the ones who fix dinners, bake, and make sweets from a recipe. Now I really don’t fit into this because I am unable to cook much. Which if you think about it is sort of funny considering the family I live with.
The memories that surround my crazy family gatherings are great. The food is wonderful and nothing in the world will ever beat Grandma Mavis’s and Gina’s cooking. Along the way in my journey of life I learned a few things from food like it doesn’t have to come from a box, or that food can bring almost any set of people together.