What’s Cooking?!

I’ve been blessed with a family of great cooks, starting with my grandma Anderson. She was such a great cook! Everything she made was yummy, especially her made-from-scratch pancakes and her homemade pies. Her pie crust was flaky and always turned out perfect! Sometimes when she had a little pie dough left over she’d make me a special treat with the leftover dough with butter, cinnamon, and sugar. She’d roll it up and pop it into the oven; it tasted so good! She made all sorts of pies but my favorite was her rubarb pie.

My childhood memories of visiting my grandma include the smell of food cooking in her kitchen, the love that she had for each one of us, and all of the family gatherings there in Frankfort, Indiana.

My mom was great cook too, and she especially knew how to put dinners together on a budget. She made hamburger casserole dishes out of slightly expired frozen White Castle hamburger patties that my dad would bring home from work. He worked in the Indianapolis White Castle office for much of my childhood. My mom also made the best use out of leftovers, and would stretch a gallon of whole milk into two gallons by mixing it with low-fat powdered milk.

Honorable mention goes to my sister Joyce for her great Dressing recipe.

As for me, some my first memories of cooking include making Jello desserts and chocolate chip cookies. The Jello was super easy and has long been one of my favorite things to teach my girls when they were very young. The chocolate chip cookies I made were from a recipe I got from my 4-H Handbook. I used to walk to the weekly 4-H meetings which were at a home in our neighborhood. After my mom helped me make my first batch of cookies I started making them as often as I could!

So I guess I’m a pretty good cook on an as-needed basis, which is pretty much daily. Ha! I enjoy cooking new recipes occasionally as long as I’m familiar with all of the ingredients. I especially like dishes that are low calorie and healthy. I dislike making new recipes if they don’t turn out good, as I don’t like wasting food, but I do love it when I try a new recipe and it turns out good.

Next, our three daughters, Michelle, Megan, and Mackenzie.

Michelle is a great cook but figured out early on in her marriage with Marty that he was a really good cook too, so he does a lot of the cooking in their home. Michelle’s favorite meal to cook is Spaghetti and Zuppa Toscana.

Megan started baking and putting yummy dishes together when she was young teenager. I remember her making yummy cheese nachos that looked and tasted like they were made in a restaurant! She still loves cooking although it’s difficult being in a wheelchair so she’s taught Landon and Livia to do some cooking, and her husband, John, cooks on most nights. Megan’s favorite meal to cook is sweet potato casserole.

Mackenzie enjoyed making cookies and helping with dinner when she was young but I think she didn’t really start taking cooking seriously until she moved into her first home in September of 2019. It was there that she got an air fryer and later subscribed to a meal delivery service that delivered all of the ingredients along with the instructions. Eventually she stopped the subscription service and started buying the ingredients at the grocery. Her favorite meal to cook is chicken spaghetti, which is the first meal I taught her how to make when she was a teenager.

Next, some of our grandchildren!

Finally, this story would not be complete without including my mother-in-law, Mildred. She poured her life into cooking! Whenever she visited and back when she was in good health, the first thing she wanted to do was to find out what we were making for dinner. As soon as we figured out the menu she’d start the preparations for dinner early in the day. She also had a special talent of making a variety of pies. My only complaint was that she put too much sugar in some of her recipes – even in recipes that didn’t call for sugar! Ha! Other than that she was an excellent cook!

I’ll close with two prayers.

The first one is old prayer that our family prayed together at our dinner table when I was growing up in Indianapolis in the 50’s, 60’s, and early 1970’s:

God is gracious, God is good,

And we thank Him for our food.

By His tender loving care,

By His presence everywhere. Amen

The second one is a beautiful kitchen prayer written by M Peterson in 1944 about God’s love, grace, and the food which He so graciously provides. The author reminds us to be thankful for everything, including the dirty pots and pans, and to ask for His blessings over all:

God bless my little kitchen,
I love its every nook,
And bless me as I do my work,
Wash pots and pans and cook.

And may the meals that I prepare
Be seasoned from above
With Thy great blessings and Thy grace,
But most of all Thy love.

As we partake of earthly food,
The table before us spread,
We’ll not forget to thank Thee, Lord,
Who gives us daily bread.

So bless my little kitchen, God,
And those who enter in,
May they find naught but joy and peace,
And happiness therein. Amen