Day 120

My Grandmother on my father's side grew up in a restaurant. Her family owned it, and she was in charge of making the desserts. From what I remember, this was a "Mom and Pop" kind of place, which ran to pies and cakes and cookies.

As you can imagine, my Grandma could bake! We lived with her for several years, from the time I was a toddler through second grade, so I was able to take advantage of her homeade goodies on a regular basis. She was a mean cook too- I can still remember her pot roast, fried chicken, spaghetti, and homemade mashed potatoes with real gravy. Needless to say, I was not the skinny kid in my kindergarten class. I also remember her cooking cow tongue, but that's another story....

It seems as though there were always some kind of sweet around the house at Grandmas. But my two favorite things in the world that she made were cream puffs and rhubarb pie. One day at the grocery, she pointed out the stalks of rhubarb to me. I was suprised, thinking they looked like pink celery- and celery sure didn't taste like pie...

Last night, I tried my hand for the first time cooking with rhubarb. I opted out of pie (I did NOT inherit her pie making skills...), and decided instead on a strawberry-rhubarb topping. I cooked the pink celery with Splenda until it basically fell apart, then added a couple spoonfuls of sugar-free strawberry jam, cinnamon, and a few fresh strawberries. I let it cool over night, and the result is delicious. I put it over frozen yogurt tonight, but it would be equally good mixed in with yogurt or oatmeal- yum!

And as I chopped the rhubarb on the cutting board, I thought about my Grandma and allowed myself to miss her for a few minutes. But when I took my first bite and that familiar tangy pink celery hit my tastebuds- I realized I didn't need to miss her. She was sitting at the table with me.

Today's picture represents how certain foods wind up attaching themselves to those we care about, and that those attachments can help us stay connected long after they are gone.