Hollie Goodman's "Home Cookin'"

As a child I remember breakfast was a pop tart, lunch a white sugar sandwich and dinner KFC at the breakfast bar. Convenience foods had just hit the market. My mother bought Swanson frozen dinners by the cart. Her idea of a perfect afternoon involved setting the timer and escaping in a good book. My brother and I were given a measuring cup of frozen peas and put on a bath-mat in front of the TV every night at 5:00. Our instructions were to eat them all before dad came home. We sat down to dinner promptly at 5:30. Dad was tired, mom was still adrift in her latest novel. There were no discussions at the breakfast bar. Once a year at Christmas mom brought green beans topped with canned onion rings to grandma’s house where more ambitious relatives baked the bread, stuffed the turkey and whipped the potatoes.

I like to think I learned to cook in spite of my mother. As I grew older I realized that we hadn’t only missed some delicious meals, we had missed the essence of good cooking. Good cooking involves planning, preparation, and presentation. It gathers people around the table to share not only soup or salad but conversation. Around a well stocked table we share our daily news, our worries, and car pool schedules. We celebrate milestones like birthdays, weddings, and anniversaries. We practice please and thank you and where to put that napkin.

When my children were little we always practiced manners at breakfast. We were all rested and patient first thing in the morning. As we mastered one meal we extended our lessons to include lunch and eventually dinner. My children are grown now and eat at others’ tables. They get repeat invitations which leads me to believe they are reasonably well mannered. My children may never have an invitation to dine with the Queen but they could manage it swimmingly.

Cooking brings personal history to the table too. Some of my favorite recipes are those from family members and treasured friends. Every time I make the recipe I think of the person who made it before me. There is a connection across the years to old neighborhoods, old friends and grandmothers who are gone.

Good cooking crosses boarders. My travel diaries are full of references to crepes in Paris, triffle in Great Britain and fish tacos in Mexico. We’ve eaten our way across the Southwest and Europe. My cookbook collection includes volumes from places I loved and places I hope to go.

Cooking makes friends. When my husband and I moved to Michigan I enrolled in cooking classes as a way of joining the community. Once a week I met with 35 other women who like me liked to cook. We made each other’s best recipes and occasionally brought in an outsider when we were out of expertise. These women became my support through the birth of the twins. They lovingly brought sausage-tortellini soup, lemon bars and peanut-butter-cup brownies.

Many of my favorite recipes have funny stories that we tell again and again as we pass around seconds. The year Matt, our oldest son, submitted “grandma’s fudge” to the school recipe book without any amounts, just a long list of ingredients. My husband’s radar whenever his mother was putting the fudge in the refrigerator to cool. And my mother’s one culinary success: her fabulous pie crust. Flaky and tender and smelling indescribably perfect. Coming home from school to find cookie sheets filled with paper thin crust barely browned cooling on the picnic table. This snack was the envy of the neighborhood.

Cooking is so much more than the mouthful of the moment. It comforts people when they are lonely or anxious. It brings family members together from every corner of the country to share a special moment with a loved one. Cooking come from caring and affection.

I have plans to write a cookbook for each one of my children as they go out into the world. Full of recipes with photos and anecdotes of how each recipe fits into their own family story. Of course I’ll include a dedication:

to my mom who toasted the pop tarts,

sprinkled the sugar and

inspired me to become a cook

with love.

Recipes

Grandma Goodman’s Fudge

2 cups sugar

5 oz evaporated milk

24 big marshmallows.

Boil 3 ingredients 5 minutes. Pour immediately over: 12 oz chocolate chips, 2 cups chopped walnuts, 1 stick Nucoa and 6 teaspoons vanilla extract. Stir and put into buttered platter. Chill.

Mom’s Pie Crust

2 cups flour,

1 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup milk and

cup vegetable oil

Combine dry ingredients, make well. Pour wet ingredients into well. Mix as little as possible but do moisten all flour. Take half of dough and roll between 2 floured sheets of wax paper. Repeat for second crust. Fill with favorite filling and bake as usual.

Michigan Penny’s Sausage-tortellini Soup

1# hot Italian sausage

1 clove garlic minced

1 large onion chopped

2 (14.5 oz) cans of tomatoes undrained and chopped

2 cups of water

1 tsp fennel seeds

tsp salt

tsp pepper

1 (9oz) package cheese tortellini

Crumble sausage and add onion and garlic. Cook in Dutch oven until meat is brown. Drain. Add tomatoes and next 4 ingredients. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Cook tortellini according to directions. Drain and add to soup. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Yield 11 cups.