Reflections of Our Mothers
Memories of My Own Mother: I remember when I was growing up, a life that was much more scheduled and Saturday was the day to get everything done at home. My parents both worked. They went to work and came home at the same time every day, had weekends off even though they spent the entire weekend working at something. They went to the grocery store, together, every Friday night without fail and my mother did laundry and cleaned the house every Saturday while my dad worked in the garage fixing and repairing anything and everything for our house and every neighbor on the block. Nothing ever deviated very much.
I loved the Saturdays my mother baked bread…this was on top of her other chores. First thing before she started the cleaning chores, she put together the flour mixture for bread and covered it to let the dough rise. A few hours later she punched the dough down and I can still see her dividing the bread mixture into little balls and working each with the fingertip to make what would rise the second time as rolls. The way she twisted the dough made the tops of each little dough pillow as smooth as silk. I often wonder if all bakers used that same approach to preparing the rolls. The dough was left to rise again and at just the right time she put the pans, one by one into the oven to bake. She also made coffee cake with part of each batch of dough and sprinkled a sugar and cinnamon mixture on the top. What a wonderful smell that sent through the entire house and a great Sunday morning breakfast before church!
I remember short sleeve house dresses, washing dishes by hand, aprons…then, later each Saturday afternoon, our bathroom would become a beauty “parlor” and after I washed my hair, she put the wet strands into “pin curls” so they could dry overnight and be brushed out in the most relentless curly mass for
Sunday school and church. It was a welcome change with the invention of “rollers”! We put our hair up on rollers instead of pin curls and the result was still a curly mess, just not quite as tight.
COMFORT FOOD |
Chicken Soup
Ingredients
5 medium carrots, peeled
5 large stalks celery, trimmed
1 large yellow onion, peeled and halved
3 pounds chicken leg quarters (about 4 legs)
10 whole black peppercorns
2 sprigs rosemary
2 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
4 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces wide egg noodles (about 4 cups)
Instructions
If you have a favorite comfort food recipe to share, please email me! laura@canadagoosegallery.com
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The Value of Community
Caregivers that put aside their own safety to care for us: Nurses