The Welcome Table

I was thumbing through Maya Angelou’s book Hallelujah! The Welcome Table - a wonderful book filled with recipes and anecdotes of her childhood and beyond living in the deep south. I attended our annual family reunion a couple of weeks ago, and the combination of this book and the reunion got me to thinking - what foods remind you of people in your life, memories that are important to you? Is there any food that brings tears to your eyes when you eat it, thinking of this loved one? Food is such an important part of our lives, not only for fuel, but for the memories shared as we sit around the table with our families. It’s a sort of history of who we are.

Here are a few of my food associations/memories throughout my life so far:

Chicken and dumplings reminds me of my great-grandma Flossie. It’s such a comfort food, I love it! I don’t have any specific memory of her making it, just THAT she made it, and I enjoyed it.

Meat loaf reminds me of my Grandma B - my mom basically uses her recipe, grandma hated to cook, but she could make some meatloaf, complete with vermicelli!! I remember having it on Sundays when we would come over to her house after church.

Pork roast I associate with my maternal grandmother - pot roast, pork tenderloin, those are connecte to her. She would always fix those when we would come over for dinner. And really these I also associate with my mom, as she makes them equally delicious!

Baked chicken is one of my mom’s specialties I think - it’s always so comforting, and feels so homey when you smell it in the oven.

Iced tea with Tang is from my grandma again, this was one of the things that defined summer for me. Cold tea with a hint of orangey sweetness. Iced tea is a summer staple of our family - especially sun tea!

Cherry pie I will always associate this with my grandpa and by extension my dad, as mom would always make Grandpa a cherry pie for Father’s day when we were growing up. It’s one of my very favorite pies!

Snickerdoodles because my great-aunt Mary would ALWAYS make snickerdoodles and bring them to family reunions. Even now, every year SOMEONE makes them - it’s almost not a family reunion without these little delightful cookies making an appearance! Come to think of it, it seems like they were always around when we would visit Aunt Mary’s house in Del Rio.

Tiramisu is my friend Vicki’s favorite. . . .fortunately for me, we can’t go to a restaurant and NOT order it if she sees it on the menu. Heck, I’m not complaining!

Pistachio pudding because my friend Karin’s mom used to make this, and I loved it. Love the color, love the summer dessert memories it conjures up - swimming, roller skating, mall outtings.

Anything barbecued always reminds me of my dad barbecuing and now my brother Nathan! Since I live in an apartment, it’s hard to barbecue. . .so I always look forward to having it at their houses.

Anyway, I think it’s fun to look back at all these food memories - it serves as an autobiography of sorts. I remember at one of our family reunions years ago, I made the comment that all we ever do is ‘get together and eat at these reunions!” Um. . .the problem with that is what??