Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother’s Day! 

I must say, my mother has had a hand in my ability to cook/bake.  Ever since I was little, whenever it was a holiday or someone’s birthday, I remember cooking special dinners, or baking cookies and cakes with my mom to celebrate.  My mom grew up on a farm, and typically did things the old-fashioned homemade way, which is how she taught me.  When I was in my teens, my mom got really sick (she had epilepsy).  I’ll spare you the details, but basically she was in and out of the hospital all the time, for years, and if my dad wasn’t at the hospital with my mom, he was at work making money to pay for the hospital bills, or home long enough to shower, make a sandwich, and make sure my brother, sister, and I didn’t burn the house down.  Being the oldest, I ended up picking up a lot of responsibilities at home, and one of them was making sure my brother, sister, and I were fed.  We don’t have any family that live in New York, but there were a lot of friends who helped us by dropping off casseroles, batches of chili, and dinners every now and then.  Some dishes were wonderful.  Some made the three of us cringe and wonder “Meatloaf?  Are you sure?  It looks more like something out of a septic tank…” 

But really, truly I was thankful that so many people helped us, no matter how appetizing their meals were (or weren’t).  But some nights, dinner was up to me.  So I learned to cook.  And I learned to bake, so no birthday went without a homemade cake or special dinner, and there were cookies to pack in my siblings’ lunches, and for snacks after school. 

There were a lot of failures along the way:  one time I forgot to add yeast to some rolls and I ended up making that Jewish bread.  I once made a pie and forgot to add sugar to the filling (hello cardboard flavored dessert).  And there have been several occasions where the smoke alarm has gone off.  Whoops.  But I learned a lot along the way, and there were a lot of nights where I was able to give my brother, sister, father and I a hot meal, that was also delish, homemade, and made with love.  It definitely helped get us through the rough times with my mom out of commission.  And when my mom was home, I think having homemade food helped her recover faster.  When I was in 11^th grade, my mom ended up having brain surgery, and ever since then she has been seizure free and so, so much better.  Learning to cook and bake has given me a great stress reliever.  When I’m in the kitchen, it’s just me, the ingredients, and a recipe.  All the stressors and craziness in the world fades away.  So that’s how it came to be that I developed a passion for the kitchen.  A difficult, struggling time actually helped me gain a talent.  Go figure!

So since it’s Mother’s Day, I obviously spent the day in the kitchen!  Today I made:  iced coffee, lemon bars, lemon meringue pie, apple pie with oatmeal crumb topping, and dinner roll rosettes.  Busy busy, but happy happy.  And everything came out delicious!!!!  I will post each recipe in a separate post, to help keep them organized.  I hope you enjoy!  Happy Mother’s Day!

 My mom and I, at my cousin's graduation, May 2004.