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Permalink Reply by Tony Pinto on May 24, 2010 at 1:01pm

My favorite food memory happened on an annual basis (every Christmas) when my Italian grandmother was still alive. I can still remember the arrangement of courses: first we sampled fresh imported cheeses and cold cuts; then we moved onto appetizers like fried asparagus and Italian "rice balls"; then the main pasta dish with an unbelievable sausage and meat sauce, topped with fresh ricotta and grated Romano; and lastly, home made cream puffs, lemon meringue pie, and as Grandma used to say, "There's always room for Jello!" Yep, great memories there. Thanks for reminding me. :-)

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Permalink Reply by Kirk Leins on May 26, 2010 at 3:17pm

My favorite food memory is actually quite a simple one from my childhood. Being of German descent, my family would always eat Sunday dinners in the middle of the day. This would always include my immediate family and quite often other relatives as well. These dinners were normally German staples like rolladen, sauerbraten, bratwurst, sauerkraut, dumplings, etc. But, the best part about these Sundays was how we dealt with our evening meal. We would get ready for bed early, and then eat a small meal together while watching The Wonderful World of Disney. This small meal normally included finger sandwiches, potato salad, pickles, olives, and anything that my mom needed to use up and could turn into an appetizer. I'm not sure if if was the food itself, the fact that we could actually watch TV while eating, or that we were all sitting on the floor around the coffee table. One thing is for sure. These were some fun times.

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Permalink Reply by Lance H. Kindberg on May 27, 2010 at 2:45am

Thanks for the insight! Always a common thread from our childhood that surfaces to bind us to the love of cooking and what food and eating can mean in our lives. We can recall the food but we associate the people we love to the activity as well. Really powerful stuff that keeps us pressing on! Thank you Kirk!

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Permalink Reply by Michael Stice on September 16, 2010 at 7:41pm

I waited to enjoy food. For years as a child I ate to simply eat. Then I went into the service and the Air Force taught me a great deal about food. Especially when I started traveling to the MED and Euope. Suddenly there were flavors which stood appart from Broasted Chicken place in my home town of St. Joe, Michigan; or just down the street, over the river, into Sears' Plaza parking in Benton Harbor, flavors of Burger Chef (original) became obvious... There was more to food than I could have imagined.

I think one of my favorite breads and one of the best meals I ever ate with friends was when I was on Post in Balkesir, Turkey: Ekmek, Beyaz Peynir (white/goat's cheese), tuz (salt), domates (tomatoes), çay şeker ile (tea with sugar) and a cup of local Turkish Coffee (Türk kahvesi). It was purchased for less than 35 cents in the 1970s, I had turkish soldiers that sent for it (Türk askerleri) and while on post we feasted, spoke broken Turkish/English and felt like I was a part of something very powerful and simple. Or when I was in Athens, Greece--I was a way form my detatchment for a weekend--I and my cousin Mikalis, an Athenian, educated me in some of the tricks in making Moussaka aux Athènes... I remember as if It were yesterday but I am walking a mile from his home... all I have is the smell. The smell has three deimensional qualities, today.

When I began to grow as a person, I found that food had enjoyment, was a pathway to new people places and events. Food was not Burger Chef nor Chicken Nook... It was

...worth investigation and trying ...the remainder of my life.

Thanks, this was fun.

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Permalink Reply by Tony Pinto on September 18, 2010 at 3:03pm

Michael, your comments never cease to amaze me. You bring a lot of experience and "flavor" to this community. Thank you!

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Permalink Reply by Michael Stice on September 18, 2010 at 5:44pm

Thank you. I see many colors and textures when memory producing questions find their way into my purview. Thanks for the response.

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