Food, like most other things in our lives, is rooted in childhood, and for me it’s wonderful to relive the foods of my childhood. Mother was such a good cook, she grew our food, canned it, then stored it under the beds for the winter.
October was chili month, and for us, it was always served with pickles and cornbread. Dill pickles, sweet pickles, Mom’s were amazing, and I still have the recipes. Her sweet pickle were quite a process, sitting in big crocks for days marinating in all kinds of wonderful spices, sugar and vinegar before canning, and her dill pickles were stuffed with heads of garlic, oh they were so good! I would love to make them just one more time, and maybe I will someday, you never know.
I remember when we lived in Denver, I was just thirty at the time, and I invited some of my co-workers over for lunch, and true to my upbringing, I served them chili and pickles. They sat down at the table and had the strangest looks on their faces, evidentally not everyone eats pickles with their chili, something I didn’t realize at the time.
My friend Angi always eats a peanut butter sandwich with chili, something she started in childhood as well. And my kids, well it’s not pickles, even though Mom ate them, they like their chili with Fritos Scoops, chopped green onions, shredded cheese and a big dollop of sour cream.
Is there anything better than family memories? Especially on cool fall days, it just kind of brings it all back. And I didn’t even talk about the apple pie, dusted with cinnamon and freshly grated nutmeg that Mom always served with her chili in the fall. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to sit, one more time, in the kitchen of my childhood, with her bustling around, preparing this meal for us. Such good memories….
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