Tuesday, November 3, 2009

I'm Not New to This...


The nurturing came later. But my love affair with food started long before Julia Childs. Mom put it plainly. “You were a greedy little girl.” She’d feed me until she thought I was content and my tummy was tight. The truth though, was that my palate had had it’s fill of what she was cooking. Oh, it was good food, trust me! As I've maintained, Mom was and is an excellent cook. But I wanted to explore...
I’d ease myself down the four steps that led to the red clay dirt (at 4 years old, mind you), and head next door to my God Mother’s house. There I’d devour homemade biscuits with fresh preserves, cheese eggs, grits and bacon fresh from the slaughter house (being a vegetarian in the Deep South wasn’t an option then). Other times, she’d stuff me plenty with candied yams, corn bread, collard greens and black eyed peas, only immediately after consuming a full plate of smothered chicken and homemade mashed potatoes. They later caught on after my God Mother accused mom of not feeding me enough. “That baby is well passed the stage of jar food, Myrtle. She’s always over here and hungry.” Incredulous, Mom ran down the laundry list of what I’d eaten just that morning. Busted!


All the same, I wouldn’t say that I was greedy. Just in the developing stages of training my palate (smile). To the day, I’m still exploring, eating and finding creative ways to get great food! Even if it means making it myself.

3 comments:

  1. I can't wait to experience your creations- spicy pecan pancakes, here I come!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the pic! I love the blog! This is you- (your calling)I should know- I've been fortunate enough to have experienced the magic first hand:)Keep cookin', good lookin':-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. and I can't wait to cook 'em for you Kenya. Thanks K.O. Looking forward to you inserting yourself in the same space (blogspot & L.A.).
    Looking forward to the great american Author's Blog from you.

    ReplyDelete