I have been giving some thought to traditions recently. Traditions in terms of food anyway. This all started when I was watching a biography on a famous Canadian chef and he was reflecting on his mother's Sunday roasts. I was roasting a chicken myself this past Sunday night and Nathan was so excited about having mashed potatoes and gravy that I make (which by the way, is nowhere near as good as my mom's and mother-in-law's) Got me to thinking of all of the great meals that Sandy and I had as a child growing up.
1) Roast Chicken- I am not sure if we had roast chicken every weekend - in fact, I guess we likely did not. But a roast chicken was pretty commonplace. It always smelled so amazing in the oven and you could hear the rotisserie in the oven squeaking a bit as it turned. While it was cooking mom would fry up the gizzards in some butter and it would be a pre-dinner snack. Not sure that I knew exactly what a gizzard was but it certainly tasted good as a child. Dad would carve the bird and save the skin for the kids - or maybe just me as I am not sure if Sandy ate such things - and would put the little pieces around the rim of the plate for us to eat. I don't remember loving the stuffing the same way that I do now, but we always had it available with mom's homemade gravy. hmm - my mouth is watering
2) Bacon, Tomatoes and Cheese - Now don't get excited thinking this is some sort of fancy sandwich. This is an oddly good, but strange looking concoction that my dad made on a lazy day when we were having a low key dinner (and had a lot of fresh tomatoes to get rid of). Basically, you saute some bacon strips cut into 1-inch pieces for a couple of minutes. Not until crisp, but about half cooked. Then you cut slices of tomato over top. Like about 5-6 big tomatoes and cover and simmer until the tomatoes have become saucy. Then, nearing the end you add processed cheese slices to the top of the mixture. Wait until they melt and then stir to mix. Adjust flavoring with salt and pepper to taste. Serve on a plate with plasticky white sandwich bread and margarine (ha ha, oh, the 70's and 80s) on the side. It is saucy, so dip the bread into the juices. If you dare to try this recipe (and it is good), you will find the skin of the tomatoes in the mix as they come off when you cook them. That just adds character to the dish, but I supposed if you weremotivated you could skinm the tomatoes prior to cooking.
3) Roast leg of lamb- Always a favorite in the Volume house that was served on holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving. Never appreciated it like I do now. It seemed like I wanted to have turkey like the rest of the kids did at school - how crazy was that when one could have an amazingly roasted lamb?
I am sure we can all look back on the traditions of cooking that we experiences as a child and whether fancy or otherwise, will always reminisce with fondness. In an effort to ensure that my kids have some traditions that they too can look back on, I am going to strive to make sure that I can offer them some consistently good foundational foods that I remember as a child...maybe even the bacon, tomatoe and cheese too!
