Cooking With Momma

Now that my two sons, Adam and Jeremy have grown-up and started their own family, my days of cooking up a storm have slowed down. My husband Larry is content to eat lighter meals and is quite easy to please. When ever the kids decide they want Mommas cooking I can really get the kitchen heated up. The act of cooking up a big meal aways brings back memories of our dear sweet Momma. Man that lady could cook. When it came to cooking Momma never took short cuts. Everything was homemade. Beans and ham were a stable for a large family and we had beans and ham at least twice a week. Sunday's meant fried chicken at our house and "real" mashed potatoes and gravy. Garvy was her specialty. Never a lump found. I think I would have put gravy over everything if she let me. With a family of seven I will never know how she made one chicken feed us all. Gathering around Momma's kitchen was wonderful when she was cooking. The smells that came out of that little kitchen could rival any chefs. Momma was big on starting out with a clean kitchen. And little hands were not allowed any where food was being prepared. At the end of a fall day there was a calming and secure feeling as you entered her kitchen as the darkness began to fall. The smell of fired chicken and the warm inviting lights of her kitchen made you feel and know that your were home. So many kids come home to cold and empty kitchens, content to heat up a TV dinner or even worse then that "take out". Growing up our home was where the kids in the neighborhood hung out. Hot vegetables soup, chicken and noodles or hot meatloaf and mashed potatoes were just some of the comfort food you could smell when you got off the bus. I can still remember our next door neighbor coming over to visit and lifting the lids to gaze at what ever Momma had on the stove. Special events were cause for special food and that is when Momma would splurge and buy a beautiful T-bone steak to make her famous Chop Sui. What a dish! The atmosphere in that little kitchen was happy as the smells began to drift through the house with the wonderful aroma of onions, butter and steak browning in the skillet. This was followed by the wonderful smell of soy sauce and all the wonderful oriental vegetables as they began to flirt and dance with the steak and onions. She knew what she was doing that was for sure. Out of five sisters I don't think any of us could make that dish like she could.
On a cold winter day she would surprise my boys with her special sweet rice and raisins. It was their favorite treat from her. Something I'm sure they will never forget because she made it especially for them.
She loved us all and showed it by the home she made for us. Life was not always good to her but she never and I mean never let it diminish her eternal sense of optimism. She always looked toward the positive side of things which drew friends and family to her as surely as a month is drawn to the light. She made all of us girls strive to be just as good of a mother as she was to us. No hurt was too deep that Momma could not heal. If you needed to talk you could always find her at the kitchen table always gazing out that big window.
Though she's gone I can still hear her laughter and the way she lifted her eyebrow mean she meant business. The way the touch of her fine tapered hands could sooth away the worst cold or fever or the way she never eat till everyone was fed. She warmed our bellies with good wholesome food and set a home environment that was cozy and warm. Above all else she nurtured the good in all of us and we are truly blessed to have called her Mom. The next time your in a store and a young child cries out "Momma!" look around at how many womans (young or old) heads jerk toward that sound. Isn't it great to be a Mom? Till next time, may we all be as lucky to leave this world a better place by the love we have shown to others. Aunt Onie