Senior year of high school, my grandma started making Jay and I fried tenderloin sandwiches before ball games. I'm not sure how it started, except that maybe I just asked her to do it, but routinely we would go out to grandma's house before a game, basketball or football, and eat a big, juicy, full-of-grease tenderloin, cooked to perfection.
She would sit down on that end bar stool (that was her spot, you know) and we would eat around the bar/counter there in her upstairs kitchen. They were so tasty. I don't make them very often at all, but I can assure you, my tenderloin sandwiches don't come out quite like Grandma's did.
At grandma's house potatoes, of course, were a must for almost every meal. Lately, I've been making fried potatoes a lot. Gosh, I love fried potatoes. They sure do make me think of her. She made the best fried potatoes. Her secret...after slicing the potatoes, was lying them out on paper towels to soak up every bit of moisture from them before putting them in the frying pan. I do that to this day and I think it helps. Maybe it's all in my head. Maybe it's not. But that's how it's done at my house...just like Grandma did.
As I change out the seasons, I go to my storage room or shelves and there I see it, artificial flower arrangements in plastic bags. Things labeled with tape. Something for every season. You guessed it, just like Grandma did.
Grandma put a napkin or paper towel in any kind of plastic container before putting the lid on it, to soak up any leftover moisture. That tidbit stuck with me too. I have been opening up thermos jugs and coolers for the summer season recently and finding a simple napkin or paper towel in the bottom of them. My kids don't get it. I didn't get it way back when either. I get it now. It does work and I will continue to do it just like grandma did.
I found my grandma's homemade brownie recipe (chewy - her notation) and am preparing myself to try them. Problem is, I know they won't turn out the way hers did. That is always a bummer. I have attempted her smooth candy about 19 times with total failure. I wish I could make that silly candy just like Grandma did.
Constantly, I find myself doing something that reminds me of grandma. Whether it is putting potatoes out on a paper towel to dry or sticking a napkin in a thermos. And I have been noticing lately how my kids comment on the way their grandmas do things. I guess that is how methods and ideas continue on, by being passed down from one generation to another.
I hope some day that my grand kids are doing things just like Grandma did.
No comments:
Post a Comment