And so we continue! The final line for my nickname poem said: It never mattered what they called me, as long as it wasn’t “late for dinner!”
So as long as we’re talking dinner, we’ll explore that next.
“HOW DO YOU VIEW your life? – POETIC BLOOMINGS MEMOIR PROJECT
Part 6: Food For Thought! – What is your favorite food? Comfort food? The best thing Mom ever made that you crave to this day? Tap your taste buds and write how it appeal(ed)s to you. Anything you write will be easy to swallow!
MARIE ELENA’S APERITIF:
MOM’S CHICKEN PAPRIKASH (Yes, it gets its own sonnet. It’s that good.)
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee for the chicken she sautés
With onion, to a golden-crusted glaze,
That fills her home with welcoming bouquets.
Paprika-peppered drippings add some spice
To sour cream-rich sauce that MAKES this fare –
As if it needs more flavor to entice.
The dumplings are to-die-for. Must I share?
She adds a crusty bread or dinner roll,
To sop up every drop of luscious sauce.
I must admit, I have no self control –
My portion-size-controller’s at a loss.
The balance of the flavors is ideal.
It’s everyone’s requested birthday meal.
© Marie Elena Good – 2012
THE TASTE OF WALT:
I ♥ GOLUMBKI (Gołąbki)
Stuffed cabbage rolls;
pigs in the blanket
over mashed potatoes?
You can bank it.
Of all the ethnic food
that I was raised on,
golumbki was always
what I grazed on.
Ground beef and rice
comprised the filling
smothered in sauce,
oh, so thrilling.
Make me a plate
and slip me utensils,
erect me a billboard
lettered with stencils:
I ♥ GOLUMBKI!
© Walter J. Wojtanik – 2012
ATTENTION!!!
WE HAVE ADDED A NEW FEATURE TO POETIC BLOOMINGS. THE “FOOD FOR THOUGHT” TAB ABOVE IS A SPACE IN WHICH YOU CAN POST RECIPES FOR THE WONDERFUL FOODS THAT INSPIRE YOUR POEMS AND WRITING FROM TIME TO TIME. YOU CAN LEAVE RECIPES AS COMMENTS AND WE’LL SEE WHAT YOU’RE COOKING!
POETIC BLOOMINGS 
Responses
My grandmother made the BEST chicken paprikash. Now I have a craving… must get into the kitchen pronto!
– 🙂
Ha.. ha.. ha… here I go waking the neighbors at this late (early) hour…
Yummy… one of my favorite topics… food/cooking… Loved both of yours, Meg and Walt ! 🙂 !
Oh, such fun ones, with a built in urging for recipes to be attached. Love them both. Walt, I may have a recipe for you that you’ll never let go of. We’ll talk. And Marie, I can envision you sitting down to the table laden with this dish. I’ll leave it at that. 🙂
Lol! Good morning, friend, Claudsy… :)!
Good morning, Hen. I hope you have a great day. I’m away for most of it, but will be back much later with something to contribute.
Oh, I so hope that your day is Lovely, Clauds ❤ !!!
My Daily Bread
You would think
that my favorite food
would be,
A wonderful, yummy dish
that she made for me
But, really,
My absolute favorite thing
in the whole, wide world
would be,
A hunk of warm San Francisco
Sourdough,
with the salty ocean air
blowing thru
my Swiss cheese
while “…sittin’ on the dock of the
Bay,
Watchin’ the tide roll away…” *
(Thank you Otis Redding) 🙂
“A hunk of warm San Francisco
Sourdough,
with the salty ocean air
blowing thru
my Swiss cheese”
LOVE this, Hen!! That would be just perfect…food and setting! :)’s
Hannah…you ARE my Soul Sister!!! 😀 !!!
We sure are!! 🙂
❤ ❤ 🙂 🙂 !!
I SOOOOOOOOOO agree!!
Marie Elena
Oh, WONDERFUL, Meg!!! 🙂 !
Sourdough so delish! With cheese, even better!
Thank you, Patricia, really, tho, I have Loved Extra Sharp Cheddar best, but the wind can’t blow thru it— LOL!!! 😀 !!!
Ha, ha!! Soul Sisters indeed…sharp cheddar for me, too!! 🙂
Oh YEAH…!!! 😀 😀 !!
Oh, that song with Otis Redding – I guess I was 15. I’m there with you because we have a lot of sourdough in DK. Bla, bla, bla – just to tell you that your poem is great. Thanks.
Ahh… yesss… I LOVE that you know the song… and to learn that you have lots of sourdough in DK… Wow, just enriches our Wonderful connection here in this Garden!!! Thank you, soo Much, Andrea, I wish that we could sit together and enjoy Otis Redding and a warm, crusty loaf of Sourdough (not too much for me tho, as I am gluten sensitive… but sometimes, I JUST DON’T CARE, and Must Have What I Want !!! 🙂 !!!
Henrietta, are you by any chance on Facebook? If you please find me.
Aw shucks, no, I am much too shy and private a person to get out there in the Masses….
🙂
! 😀 !!
Hen, I actually had your “daily bread” in San Francisco this past April. I savor the flavor till this day.
Ohhh yummy, Lucky you!!! I am so far away from The City now… but that scrumptious bread calls to me every now and again… it’s just one of those things in Life that you shall never, ever forget… 🙂 !
What a combination of good!
Mmmm… yes, thank you, Sara!!
some seriously good poeming (and eating) going on here.
Here’s one to be going on with:
ADDICTION
When I was young and foolish.
Bassetts’ Liquorice Allsorts
a whole packet for lunch was my way.
Coffee, strong black with sugar
several times a day, kept my brain alert
for work and play
until I could no longer sleep.
Cigarettes, another youthful folly,
– a slow burn, from one now and then
to twenty or thirty a day.
Insidious hold, they had over me.
Sickened and broke I soon became
a reluctant addict:
precious little pleasure with them
and none at all without.
Twenty years of trying and failing
furtive puffs in secret places –
shame added to distress –
crowned at last with complete success.
Maltesers, Mars and Marathon,
the gift of a box of Belgian heaven –
one for Jock, the rest for me –
repentance you will never see.
One addiction replaced with another,
chocoholicism is here to stay.
Ahh… chocolate… yes!!! 🙂 !
“furtive puffs in secret places –
shame added to distress –
crowned at last with complete success.”
Viv, you capture this feeling so perfectly!
Excellent descriptions!
I’d be a chocoholic if I could eat it. It wreaks havoc on my system and is SO not worth it. Great poem, though! 🙂
Marie Elena
= 🙂
I was waiting for someone to poem about chocolate! Mmm.
I often put recipes on my blog. This one provokes poetry in my soul:
Oh, Viv, your recipe for gluten-free chocolate cake sounds WONDERFUL!!! Perfect for a Sunday morning with Organic coffee and movies… thank you! 🙂 !!
Was that movie title Chocolat?????
Viv, I am a fan of licorice too! Like the way you traced these various tastes/choices along the way .
Ha, ha, ha… I started to refer to that movie, but could not remember its title for sure… 🙂 !
[…] FOOD FOR THOUGHT – PROMPT #71 […]
The Wait
Creamy goodness, it was the perfect portion;
a most palatable prelude for, “mini-pizzas.”
Eating and watching while waiting,
the hilarity of our favorite three stooges
in black and white sprawling across the tinny T.V.
laughter and shenanigans increased,
it was enthralling to the trio of our sibling set.
We listened to our aproned Grammy in the kitchen
as she cooked burger and green pepper/onion toppings.
We drooled as she placed English-muffins on a cookie sheet,
abundantly topping them with sauce and the, “fixins.”
All the while the dairy delectable that filled the gap,
(the one that we craved on the walk back from church),
the single savored ration that could not compete,
the telling texture that was worthy of a morning-long wait
was the small-glass baking-ramekin filled to the spilling brim
with the brilliant white of our most favorite curds and whey.
©Hannah Gosselin 9/2/12
Some long-line odd breaks I see…Oh well…Happy Sunday smiles to everyone!!
Oh…hmm nope…I guess just the preview looked that way.. never mind. 😉
Oooh… Yummy!!! And Lovely: “…We listened to our aproned Grammy in the kitchen… ” As far back as I can remember all of us women puttered in the kitchen… :)!!!
Yes, some of the best memories revolve around aproned caretakers! Thank you, Hen!
Lovely… 🙂 !
When a poem about food is entitle “The Wait,” you KNOW it’s good eatin’! 😀
Marie Elena
Thank you, Marie!!! ❤
… 🙂
:)’s to you Marjory!
Burgers on English Muffins–never thought of that!
Actually we were making mini pizzas! 🙂 But that would be good too!
Marie and Walt…your dishes are mouth-wateringly amazing sounding…mmm!! :)’s to you both!
Yum, y’all
Food
Simple, to say a word
Bread
or write:
“a fresh fig” “a dripping peach” “homegrown tomato”
Simple, even, to be particular, as
banana pudding, Aunt Harriet’s,
still warm from the oven, heaped
so high the bottom-most vanilla wafers sigh
and forget about their figures
into a big, yellow, bowl and set just off center to the east
on scrub-worn oilcloth–floral, once–covering a long body-smoothed table
with a bench along the window side,
four ladderback cane seat chairs opposite and one on either end
in that indeterminate summer year
when we were back, cold from swimming,
and the air was stinking sweet with hay and honeysuckle
and everyone I knew was still alive
Impossible
to recall absent flavors
Barbara, this is pure emotion. I reckon this one would win a prize in any poetry competition.
Agree! The details are exquisite !
Oh yesss…Exquisite… that is the word I was feeling as I read along… Thank you for this, Barbara!!!
I’d say : “And everyone I knew was still alive.” That really hit me. Thank you very much for framing the images of tastes this way.
I’m sorry I forgot to say that your last two lines make this poem perfect for me. Because yes it is impossible to recall absent flavours. Oh, this is just so great.
Oh, how I adore your style, Barbara! 😀
Marie Elena
You’re too generous, gal.
(I can’t read my stuff out loud: no breathing spaces)
. 🙂
Oh, Barbara, this gave me goosebumps for sure…your descriptions, emotions, your humor, ” bottom-most vanilla wafers sigh and forget about their figures…” this is brilliant.
Absolutely what everyone else said. Love.
I want the banana pudding NOW, and I love your ending.
OK, this is stupid as a poem, but the food is worth trying 🙂
***
Banitsa – as my mother made it
Banitsa – as my dad used to make it
Banitsa – as made by my auntie, although too oily or salty
and
Banitsa – as I now make it
Whisked eggs, stirred with yogurt,
Add some sun-seed oil,
Feta cheese all over
But the dough sheets you’d better buy
than make.
Each corner of the country has
its version thereof.
Each family on our street
has its own.
Yet, we all buy the dough sheets.
***MK***
In case anyones’s interested, here’s a reference on what Banitsa is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banitsa
That sounds delicious and I want to try it!
Yes!
And it’s very easy to make, provided you have the dough sheets 🙂 Older grannies make their own, but honestly, banitsa doesn’t get that good because it’s very hard to make the sheets so thin and fine.
Well, better write dough sheets on my grocery list for tomorrow. Sounds great. Thanks for your links on FB.
Oh yes … I’m with you, Andrea! Sounds yummy!
Marie Elena
…. 🙂
Mmm sounds great!
ODE TO A BISCUIT
Your cheesy goodness makes me swoon;
don’t even need a fork or spoon.
From Cheddar Bay they say you come,
I just know I want me some.
Your warmth and softness are the best.
Though I love bread, you beat the rest.
Red Lobster was the only place
that I could see your luscious face.
But I can make them now, I bet,
thanks to the good old internet!
Lol!!! Sweet goodness, for sure… !!! “Red Lobster was the only place that I could see your luscious face…” !!! 😀 !! Love this line!!!
Chuckles.
Oh, wow … we have Red Lobster here also, and LOVE their Cheddar Bay Biscuits! But don’t ever bother taking them home to reheat. Ick. 😉
Marie Elena
.,. 🙂
Linda your last rhyme made me chuckle…we can attempt most anything with internet!! 🙂
MOM’S HOMEMADE SPAGHETTI
I could smell it from blocks away
when I stepped off the bus from school.
My mouth would instantly water.
I had to be careful not to drool.
She started in the morning,
for it took all day to make.
It was worth every minute cooking,
please make no mistake.
There is nothing I remember
that could so quickly make my day
than knowing Mom’s spaghetti
was just a dinnertime away.
So I made it for my children
when they came home from school
thinking it would have the same effect
and for it they would drool.
What they said instead was,
“Don’t we have Ragu”?
which is way more in my skill set,
just between me and you.
Aaahahaha… Oh, I’m sorry for laughing, but kids nowadays…. Phooey…!
hohoho! yeah, children would be like that. who knows, your mom maybe tried to entice you with some other delicacy, not exactly the spagetti…
who knows? we do our best and just hope for the best outcome.
Linda, I am so sorry. I would have loved to write something good to you but to be honest I hate spagetti. I never managed to work the fork right and I always end up having tomato sauce all over my face – and if worse – on my clothes. And more to be honest, I don’t think it tastes of anything. I understand Walt’s dish which is “kåldolmer” in Danish. That’s a very specific faint taste. But spagetti dishes never had me. Please put a spagetti recipe there, too, and hopefully you can convince me. It’s not that I don’t like it – it’s more like I don’t look good when I eat it and it doesn’t taste of anything. But what do I know? I have no good spagetti recipes.
Hee, hee… you are soo delightfully Honest, Andrea… (are you Sagittarius, like me? 😀 ! )
I do not eat spaghetti the “right’ way. I cut it up and do not need to worry about how to use the fork.
I’m 1/2 Italian, and this is what I do as well. 😀
Marie Elena
I’m Irish, but I definitely cut it. Who thought my goofy poem would spawn the cut or twirl controversy! 🙂
One of the most adorable memories that I hold is of my little Grandson having an extra long noodle and slurping it up… ha, ha, ha… sounds terrible, I know… but definitely a Kodak moment :D!!!
I hear you Andrea! It was one of those “comfort foods” from my childhood. Apparently my children felt the same as you do!
Mama made EYE-talian spaghetti, which meant that you added a ton of hamburger to canned sauce and let the cooked pasta stew in it for half an hour or so. Pretty much like Chef Boy-ar-DEE. (Ragu’s grandpa)
LOL!!!
With Irish ancestors, potatoes were a mainstay for meals. For me the discovery of spaghetti was a great addition to the weekly menu, made with Ragu, of course.
Then, one weekend, my friend,s Italian grandfather was visiting Totonto for the summer. Making spaghetti with meatballs required a visit to the market to buy fresh garlic and oregano & a few more items. The tomato sauce filled their house with a delicious scent & the meal was delicious. That is when I really discovered spaghetti!
That’s what I’m talking about! (I wish I could type with an Italian accent). Actually, I am Irish too, as was my mother!
Spaghetti I learned to eat the ‘right’ way – neatly rolled on a fork – as a teen. Today my hubby cuts his and I remind him that he is letting the flavor run out of the noodles by doing do. They just taste better whole.!
… interesting … :)!
Yes, how true. I once made hot chocolate using cocoa powder, etc. for my next-door neighbors kids. Their response: Don’t you have Nestle’s Quick?
ha… ha… ha… yep
GEMINI
They are here!
Born tonight or maybe sometime this morning.
Who do I tell?
What can I say?
What’s on my mind?
Two red tomatoes, one
a bit more red than the other.
Here we are.
Two red tomatoes in the sandy soil of
no tomato land.
You might ask me:
Are they brandywine?
Roma?
Or
supersonics?
They are tiny red pieces from Heaven and
here I am to pick them.
Letting their taste of sunshine hit
every vein in my body,
every little taste bud on my tongue,
letting me feel happy,
proud,
alive.
Oh YES!!! I used to Love my Homegrowns (Tucson, AZ)!!! Congrats on growing them in “…no tomato land.” !!!
Thank you and I’m also very proud. There are two more coming. I never knew there were such difference in the taste.
Yes… If I may, I will again use the word “exquisite” to define that first luscious bite… mmmmmm… 🙂 !!!
“Tiny bits of heaven” – who could ever top that? Yummm!! So good to have you back with us on a regular basis, Andrea!
Marie Elena
Summer tomatoes are the best! Andrea so glad you focused on these delicious fruits of the harvest!
The first tomatoes of the season are always the best. I go for a fresh tomato sandwich.
yum… slathered with Canola Mayo !!! 😀 !
Yum! They do taste different when homegrown.
Great poem. We plan whole menues around our homegrown tomatoes!
Thanks! And please, put one of your best tomato recipes here, also in my name. I love that you plan whole menues.
Hummm- My mom was not ‘into cooking’,
A job she learned after marrying..
Food was just a part of the day.
Nothing special in anyway.
But, it was years after I married
‘fore fried ‘tates to table I carried.
Frome grade-school days, we girls made our own breakfast and lunch, and had dinner started by the time mom came home from work.
… wow… I can’t imagine… Thank you for this…
“Fried ‘tates” totally works!
Marie Elena
seven nights a week?
BUMMER!!!
Works for me!
Marie Elena
😉
his is the smell of dinner, cooking
Sniff the smell of cabbage steaming
On the stove this Sunday morning
hand-picked from the vegetable garden
this sunny morning in November.
See how the cabbage keeps producing
Even when the frosts and cold spells
Turned all of the tender veggies
Into little piles of mush.
Now the pan of boiling water
Bubbles over from the lid
Quick! It’s time to add the noodles
Watch them grow from dry to plump.
We are ready! All the noodles mixed
Into the cabbage (with a bit of chopped-up onion}
Let the flavors merge together! Serve the kielbasa
On the side. Enjoy our delicious Sunday feast!
🙂 !
Never a huge fan of cooked cabbage, but I AM a huge fan of your poetry. Always. 😉
Marie Elena
Hummm – never mixed cabbage with noodles! Interesting compbo.
What do you call this?
Spices of Childhood
By Patricia Anne McGoldrick
Cinnamon delight
Sticky buns
Hot and savory
Fresh from the oven
Nutmeg treat
Cupcakes
Topped with smooth
Butter-cream vanilla icing
Molasses sweet
Cookies
With ginger
Scent wafting through the air
Back in the day fragrances
Stay in my mind
Comfort Food
Home sweet home.
I can almost smell them.
Mmmmmm…. “Cinnamon delight…” Heavenly, once again….
Mmmmmmmmmm….
Marie Elena
My hubby and his mom were into all kinds if home made buns and bread. I do not try to compete with such a winning combo.
Lucky you — I sometimes like to go to the Mall (Calif) where I can smell the Cinnamon Buns baking… 🙂 !
I love molasses, but no one in my family does.
Delicious poetry!
Thanks for the comments!
Marie & Walt, so,liking this prompt about food & all the poems & comments. Ironically, the movie Eat Pray Love is what I am watching today. What a combo!
Great thoughts to take with me on my September walk today!
Beautiful day you are having !
‘Tis a beautiful day, Henrietta!!
Cinnabons is a very successful stop in the mall. I try to be content with the cinnamon scent!
You have more will power than I, Patricia! 😀
Marie Elena
One time, I bought one at the airport just to take it home and put it in the oven and smell the aroma (cause, darn they are not gluten free)… 😀 !
Not to worry, I do give in occasionally!:)
Motherly Love (A Tanaga)
Creamy white mound pillow soft
buttery drips, pleasant wafts,
skyward bound a cloud-like treat;
why mashed potatoes… let’s eat!
Love ’em!
Laurie, such a neat package!
Yes! I have to admit I had to look up Tanaga. Neat form, and perfect for your subject. 🙂
Marie Elena
Thanks, Patricia.
[…] part of the unfolding series in the discovery of self, Poetic Bloomings encourages us to write a poem using the foods of our childhood as inspiration. Dosya, yükleyen […]
Sorry Walt, but we both have the same favorite with different countries taking part.
Sweet and Sour
Romanian and Russian backgrounds
blended blood and cultures, bestowing
the art of creating foods on Mom.
The best marriage was Mom and Dad,
followed by stuffed cabbage. Holiday
aromas teased the air. Dark
and pale green cabbage leaves,
stuffed with ground meat, rice,
and a touch brown sugar, rolled
and set–two toothpicks to each–to simmer
in a dutch oven, filled with tomatoes,
golden raisins, sprinklings of brown
sugar, and squeezing of lemons,
until tasting provided perfect ratio
of sweet to sour.
oooh… I can just taste them now…. love the tangy tartness…
Thanks, Hen.
“The best marriage was Mom and Dad, followed by stuffed cabbage.” What a line! And your poem is loaded with enticing flavors.
Marie Elena
Thanks, Marie.
This is awesome… Caution: Read the responses while not hungry or your belly is bound to make the loudest noises… trust me on this. Here is my contribution for the day:
Homecoming Dinner
By: Meena Rose
Every year, every visit
My parents spoil me
Royally.
Dolmas, tzatziki, pita;
How do I begin to describe
Bursts of joy upon a
Palette long denied
Savory communion as
Spices of home explode
Pleasant memories of
Family feasts and times
Of plenty?
Perhaps it is the tang
Of tamarinds, or the
Lemony zing of tzatziki.
Perhaps it is the sense
Of love that courses
Through with each bite.
One thing is for sure
My parents’ kitchen
Is a place I adore.
http://2voices1song.com/2012/09/02/part-6-food-for-thought/
Oh so YES!!! Love the poem, love the flavors… Love the Love in this one!!! 🙂 !
Thanks, Hen!
Thanks for the caution, Meenarose!
The kitchen was the centre of our house when I was growing up. How great that your parents are still able to pamper you with these family favourites. Enjoy!
Absolutely! And the fact that you think of it as your homecoming meal is so neat, and says so much about how you feel about your parents. Lovely poem, Meena Rose!
Marie Elena
Nuts to Soup
My snack when I am hungry
is some kind of nut:
pecans, walnuts, pasticcios,
or almonds, too.
I also put nuts in my
whole-wheat pancakes
with dried fruit bits
on Saturdays and Sundays.
Pierogies and sour cream
remind me of my Polish-
Ukrainian Grandma who sent
us home with leftover feasts.
Our quick-we-are-in-a-hurry
comfort food is the macaroni
and cheese entrée prepared
in the kitchens of Safeway.
It has been too long
since Dean has kneaded
dough for his homemade
bread for us to devour.
I think of Mother’s vegetable
beef soup as I use the barley
box recipe for my own. I love
eating more than cooking.
Sheryl Kay Oder
Pierogies and sour cream — Yummmmm.
“I love eating more than cooking” – I didn’t think I’d ever feel that way, but I do more and more.
Marie Elena
Everything sounds good!
Country Meal
Turkey, quail, pheasant,
venison, rabbit or even squirrel from our woods
or trout from the creek just past Pappap’s
as the main dish.
Potatoes, corn, tomatoes, lettuce, onions,
cucumbers, green beans, yellow squash
from the garden as the sides.
Elderberries, grapes, Siberian crabapples,
rhubarb, blueberries and blackberries,
walnuts, hickory and hazel nuts
picked right out of our yard to make
homemade jams and jellies,
cookies, cobblers and pies for dessert.
Nothing like a fresh country meal.
Nothing, indeed.
We used to go elderberry picking with my grandpa when we were little, and then help Mom clean them to make pie or jam. Wish I knew where to pick them now.
Thanks for the memory!
Marie Elena
Ohh… everything sounds so fresh and wonderful!!
Marie and Walt got me hungry and now the rest of you have both fed me and made me ravenous. I think I’ll eat a poem!
Mama’s Mincemeat Pie
She only made it once a year—
and then under duress.
“It’s so much trouble,” she would say;
Of course, it was the best.
Even if it took a day
to grind the tender meats
and tenderloin that she hand-picked
that made it savory sweet,
Even if the currents, raisins,
apples, and orange zest
made labor for a single meal,
that pie was just the best!
The fruits and meats would harmonize
and bubble in the crust,
the raisins plump, and Oh, the smell,
would cause tastebuds to lust
for just one bite—or maybe more—
what sweet moans we would make,
but she weaned us away one Christmas Day
with a snow-fluffy coconut cake.
OH, too cute! And believe it or not, I have never had mincemeat pie. It was a staple at Christmas time when I was a little girl, but of course it didn’t appeal to me then. Once my taste buds grew up, nobody seemed to make it anymore. I might have to try it sometime, since you’ve made it sound so yummy. 🙂
Marie Elena
Yes… me too… never had it, but would like to try it… and oh that “snow-fluffy coconut cake” — I can just Taste it now… !! 😀 !
Makes me want to try it. Never had mincemeat before.
Enchanted
I do not make no bake
chocolate peanut butter oatmeal cookies,
because they are like the White Witch’s
Turkish Delight from Narnia,
so enchanted, you’d eat yourself into oblivion.
So I do not make no bake
chocolate peanut butter oatmeal cookies.
I think I just gained a pound thinking about them.
Ha! I know exactly what you’re talking about and yes … they are yummy and deadly! Clever wording, Connie!
Marie Elena
Mmmmmm… :D!!
Somewhat Canadian
Morning – I am a morning person
and ever since I lost my sense
of smell, or most of it, and with it
many taste-buds marched off too
Breakfast is the one meal I can still
smell; I’m not sure if by sleeping
I rest the few olfactory glands
I have left, recharge them so to speak
But just set some bacon to sizzling
Add to that French toast especially
if the maple syrup’s being warmed
as well —and the butter too—
if I’m being particularly spoiled…
And I drift into the kitchen like
a cartoon character, following
my nose, salivating the whole way
Love it!
I feel bad for you, Sharon. My dad lost his sense of smell as well. He really misses the warm scent of wood as he carves.
There are some scents I would miss greatly : fresh-baked bread, toast, chicken paprikash, bacon, lilac, and lily of the valley, to name a few.
Marie Elena
I also am without a sense of smell from early in my youth. It’s true the other senses kick in. W.
Hmm – and we both have sleep disorders as well – connection? Or just cosmic cruelty? LOL
Well, if Marie and I are cousins separated by birth, could S.E. and W.J be displaced twins??? Just a thought.
Morning breakfast aromas… spell HOME to me… !!!
Wow, you guys have been busy today. I wrote about something I didn’t really like as a kid but grew into loving it as an adult.
“Julekage—Christmas past”
They toasted it,
buttered it, and set
thick slices on blue and white
plates imprinted with flowers and a hearty
Var så god
(Enjoy! Welcome! Help yourself!)
Eight grandchildren called it “Yucka Kaga”
and crinkled our noses while the grown-ups
dipped the sweet Christmas bread into rich
Swedish coffee that Grandma Dolly perked
in eggshells then poured into dainty porcelain
cups that read:
Kaffetaren den basta ar av alla jordiska drycker
(Coffee is the best of all earthly drinks.)
Cardamom and candied fruit, yeasty sweet that
still smells like silly grandma Dolly who tried to take
Great Grandma Anna’s recipe to her grave.
This Christmas mom will bake it for the last time.
Together we’ll dip our crusty buttered Julekage
into thick steamy cups of perked coffee
in remembrance of Christmas past.
Sweet memories…
This was my last read for the day!
I think that my dreams tonight might be full of a multicultural pot pourri!
Bon Nuit/Goodnight!:))
!! 🙂 !!
Oh, most definitely sounds like a “must grow into this” taste, but oh, would I love to try it. Complete with the coffee. But I’d have to ruin the recipe with margarine instead of butter. Can’t have butter. 😦
Marie Elena
The heavenly scent wafting through the kitchen
On cold winter evenings; thick white cream,
Potatoes, onions, not to mention the salty bacon,
Causing all our mouths to water as we encourage Mom to hurry
With many a word and hungry gesture.
We watch with baited breath and glowing eyes
As at last, she sets it on the table, the delicious aroma pervading
Our nostrils, our stomachs growling dangerously;
Waiting impatiently as grace is said, then it’s “Dig in!”
Savoring each blessed mouthful, hoping they’ll be room
For seconds, or possibly thirds or fourths.
I haven’t had it in such a ling time, but I’ll never forget
The scent or the gloriously divine, rich, creamy taste
Of Mom’s own homemade chowder!
OM Goodness….!!! I could hardly wait to read your Last sentence! GREAT capture of the anticipation of devouring something that you Love… !!! 🙂 !!!
Mmmmmmm!!!!!!! I think I smell it on the stove right now …
Marie Elena
Thanks Henrietta! Now I’m starting to crave this dish. 😉
Ha, ha, ha… yum, me too!!!
POTATO CHIP CASSEROLE
A tin of tuna
A can of mushroom soup
Add canned veg and give it
A stir, then cover the top
With smashed up potato chips.
Bake until bubbling.
As kids we loved it.
As adults we shudder
At the excessive salt.
My mum loved anything
that stacked up in tins.
Ha…ha.. ha… Misky, your writing brings me such joy!! 🙂
Oh my goodness. Unfortunately, I would probably love this. 😉
Marie Elena
Food Category
I never really realized
how much I like gourds.
When it comes to making dishes,
with them I’m never bored.
With a birthday in September,
Zucchini is always ripe.
If I don’t get a Chocolate zucchini
cake, you just might hear me gripe!
Eggplant Parmesan is my
favorite dish, by far.
I try it everywhere its served
and rate each with a star.
Zucchini, squash and pumpkin
all gourds that I adore.
I just found out that eggplant
is a berry, not a gourd!
© KED 2012
😀 !! Chocolate zucchini cake… whodathunkit!?
Hen, my favorite cookie recipe used to be zucchini cookies. Now I can’t have chocolate, so I can’t eat them. Bummer.
meg
Yummmmmmm … and Healthy too 🙂 ! 🙂 !!
KELLY! Do you have Grandma Marchionte’s chocolate zucchini cake recipe? I’ve got it. It’s rich and dark and moist and yummmmm. I haven’t made it in like, forever. 😦
Marie
Nope, don’t have Nonna’s. I have the one my mom made for years and a bundt cake that I’ve been making for awhile. Both are family favs!
A toast
Doesn’t matter if it’s black
we still can put it in the rack
Doesn’t matter how it’s made
as long as we have marmalade
Doesn’t matter if the bacon
and the fried tomato’s taken
There will always be a tin
of beans to soak our soldiers in
Doesn’t matter if you’re the Queen
a serf or something in between
the colour of your eyes, or if you look like me,
there’s just one thing on which we all agree:
We all pay homage to electric fires blazing
Bright in every kitchen, daily praising
the humble carbohydrate slice that binds a nation.
For all of us eat toast – no matter what our station.
… yes we do… 🙂
Lovin’ the toast tribute! One of my favorite scents is that of toast. Glad I can smell it.
Marie Elena
Hats off to humble, lovable toast!
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Or alternatively, there’s this:
http://miskmask.wordpress.com/2012/09/03/distracted/
YIKES! I could not finish reading this one…
Seriously?
LOL! Please see my IN-FORM comment — 😀 !
We call it “cabbage and noodles.” There is a Polish name for it, but I never saw it written down. I’ll do the recipe, it’s very easy.
“Meet & Potatoes!”
I guess you’d call them patties,
Small cutlets made of veal;
My children yell, “Kotlety!”
And with delight they squeal.
They ask me, “What’s for dinner?
What’s this that smells so good?”
It’s been an all-time winner –
Kotlety – Russian food!
Potatoes, young and steamy,
Clear streams of butter flow,
Green parsley…eyes turn dreamy,
And cheeks begin to glow.
These simple foods won’t boast,
Thus my shot-glass I raise:
Simplicity I toast,
And wholesomeness I praise.
My dish is no smarty,
Won’t pass a French chef’s test,
Still nothing beats this hearty
Meet and potatoes zest!
I think “cutlets” might not be the right word, maybe this is closer:
“Small rissoles made from veal” 🙂
Sounds yummy, Happy! 🙂
Very cool learning about some Russian fare!! Sounds like a winner!
Marie Elena
I know I’m late. I was gone until very late last night, except for one stop back at the house. Hope you enjoy my little poem. I’ll try to get back soon do to comments on all of the lovely entrees here.
Wishing and A’hopin’
Aromas from Mom’s oven
Tantalized with a lifetime
Of Love’s expression.
Sweetness floated on atom
Wings to glide up nostrils
Attached to anticipation.
Eternity passed behind
Oven’s door, creating
Its own focused fascination,
While in fits and fidgets
I awaited the grand entrance
Of my Achievement Day’s
Perfect salutation presentation:
Mom’s family recipe of
Homemade Butterscotch Pie.
Okay… that’s IT!!! The Grand Prize goes to Claudsy’s Homemade Butterscotch Pie!!!
LOL. Thanks, Hen. I needed that. And you’re right. Mom’s pie would always have taken the prize. 🙂
!!!!! 😀 !!!!!
Oh now this is SOOO poetically put! Love it, Clauds!
My dad would tell you how he teased the daylights out of my poor aunt. She could never get her butterscotch pie to really set up, so my dad would bring a straw and stick it in her pie. LOL!
Marie Elena
Too fun, Marie. Mom’s never failed. Mine could rival your aunt’s. I miss having my special pie once a year. I can still close my eyes and taste it.
For me, it’s my mom’s apple pie, and coconut cream pie. Amazing stuff!!
Marie
I think we always remember those treats of our youth with a reverence that cannot be equaled by anything in our adult experience. My mom cooked better than anyone I’ve ever known, though many have tried to knock her off that dais.
Aaahahaha!!!
Oh dear! Running behind — as always! 😐
But, here’s my “food memory”, anyway:
Holiday Dressing
Side by side they mince and slice
working with implements that only
appear at certain specific holidays,
adding ingredients none of us
recognize (or choose to ingest) –
bits of giblets too visceral to include,
too vital to omit – combined with
vegetables, peppered with salt & spices,
and arguably balanced (“Too much of this”,
“Too little that”) by Bell’s Seasoning.
Youngest daughters of a family dis-
connected, severed from ancestors,
generations removed by geography;
but, blood is thicker than water
(under the bridge or over the damn),
so two sibling rivals collaborate,
(who never knew grandparents,
whose parents lie beyond their reach)
two sisters, still attempt to rekindle,
recollect, reconnect by taste
© PSC – 2012
Wonderful!
See Food
I see food and I like it.
There’s nothing I won’t eat.
Except maybe for fruitcake.
To me, that is no treat.
Bring on broiled whitefish or smoked salmon.
Steamed mussels or king crab legs would be fine.
I’d love a huge plate of some fresh sea scallops,
served with a glass or two of a fine wine.
I really do crave shrimp.
You can make it any way.
But, lobster is my favorite food.
I’d eat that every day.
By Michael Grove
Yummy seafood!! 🙂
Rolling in Dough
Mom believed in home baked goods
And I’m her mother’s daughter
No cookie’s worth a bite
Unless made with love and butter
Snickerdoodles sugary cinnamon
Flaky crunch as you bite in
Peanut butter rich and sweet
Melt in your mouth, crunchy treat
Chocolate chip by far the best
Vanilla, buttery chocolate mess
Warm and gooey from the oven
That’s the way that I love ’em
Don’t think that you can tempt me
With goods from a bakery
Unless they slid from mom’s cookie sheet
I’ll keep on walking down the street
You’ve got me drooling!
Marie Elena
!!!!! 😀 !!!!
[…] Food for Thought – Prompt #71 (poeticbloomings.com) […]
[…] Written for Poetic Bloomings Prompt #71 (Memoir Project – Part #6): Food For Thought […]
Just the Way I Like It
Elbow macaroni
The white kind
Don’t like that cheesy brown stuff
It ain’t that much healthier
Boil the water and add salt
Plenty of salt
Add a little garlic for taste
Then add the macaroni
Open a can of stewed tomatoes
Pour into a sauce pan
Turn up the heat
And add a pat of butter
Then another pat
And another
And another
I like butter
Don’t forget the hot sauce
About ten drops
Times three
I like hot sauce
Check the macaroni
Don’t want it mushy
Drain it when it’s done
And add another pat of butter
Remove the tomatoes from the stove
Add to the macaroni
Grab a large glass of ice tea
No sugar added
Get a slice of bread
And butter that bad boy
Now it’s time to
Sit down for a delicious meal
You noticed that I didn’t mention a bowl
Because you eat it straight out of the pan
Like a man
Yum