Saturday, August 29, 2009

Food Heritage

So here I am watching, you guessed it Food Network. And it got me thinking why I am just a foodie. My mom always just cooked basic chicken, pork, and hamburger for dinner, but when it comes to dessert that is her speciality. The best are her Key Lime Pie and Peacan Pie. (maybe thats why everyone gathers at my house after Chistmas with their families) My maternal great-grandmothers was they type of cook who just took a handful of flour and a dollop of butter and made biscuits. My mom is the follow the recipe and measurements precise. I'm a lovely combination of both of them, and then add in my fathers inventive skills and you have me. My paternal grandfather is also an amazing cook. He is famed and loved for his homemade apple pie. He even was on the Food Network apple pie bake off television show. It was great to see him on there doing what he loves. (Although he didn't win, its always a favorite in my book). He also made homemade jams and jellys from fruit in his backyard. By profession he is horticulturists and specializes in grafting plants. Now he has since retired but still enjoys the plants and tending to them. This gene was passed to my father and he grows all sorts of things in the garden. He started just growing hot peppers, then it grew to collard greens, and now we have great fresh "right of the vine" vegetables and fruits.
  • tomatoes
  • peanuts
  • edame beans (soy Japanese beans)
  • hot peppers of every variety
  • collard greens
  • mustard greens
  • mushrooms
  • pineapple
  • squash
  • zucchini
  • herbs of every kind: basil. mint. chives. parsley

and more that I don't even know. So when we cook we always look in the backyard for the freshest ingredients. I'm sure the county would allow it, we'd have a few chickens for eggs and cow for milk. Luckily our backyard is not that big. Heck my parents wont even let me get a dog.



2 comments:

  1. Hey, btw... tell your grandpa to send me some home-made jam! I want the mango orange one we used to put on biscuts...mmmm!

    But I'll take anything, including that apple pie recipe!

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  2. Isn't it funny how your history can sort of be told through cooks in the family? I'm the third child and got the full cooking gene from my parents it seems.

    Do you have old family recipes that's been passed down or just techniques?

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