This has been the best fall weather I can ever remember. It is still incredibly nice outside, the leaves are still brilliant (the reds are drop dead gorgeous this week and against the yellows, oh, be still my heart). The tree pictured is our Red October Maple that sits just beyond the deck, so I had this wonderful view all afternoon while I was cooking...is life great, or what?
On Wednesday afternoons I cook...it is one of my favorite times of the week actually as I cook a nice mid-week dinner for my family and make twice the amount so that I can transport the same dinner over to our priests at the rectory. Wednesday is the only day they get to dine all at the same time, so this makes it nice for them to come home to an already-made meal on Wednesdays and the three of them eat together. (Gone are the days, at least around here, when the priests all had housekeepers and cooks.) At any rate, on Wednesday afternoons I factor in the cooking for us, them, and usually one other family who needs some extra love that week by way of a meal delivered to them...sickness, new baby, death in the family, financial problems, whatever. I love taking care of people.
One of my favorite parts about the whole cooking process is that I have, in my possession, many items that belonged to my great-grandmothers, grandmothers, mother, aunts, great-aunts, etc. that I enjoy using because they remind me of all my times with them as I was growing up. I know this sounds morbid, but when my Grans all passed on, the family members could ask for things to remember them by, you know, probably the same in all your families also, and no one ever wanted the simple everyday things...which was GREAT for me because those were the things that I did want...the beat up measuring spoons that I used when we cooked together, the rolling pins, the measuring cups, the mixing bowls...the recipe boxes...no one wanted them. They are my most prized possessions.
So, on Wednesday afternoons (and other times of course), you can always find me in the kitchen cooking with all my memories and using all the implements that my family, some present, most gone now, used while I was growing up and learning to cook at their sides. I don't part with people easily...I like to keep them with me as long as possible, and this is just one of the ways I can do that...so, if you are in need of a meal...call me...it will give me the greatest pleasure. It's one of the things I do best!