My family has all these “family” recipes that they steal and claim as their own. I remember one time I asked my mom for all her recipes and my aunt got “all mad” because she didn’t give her credit. (Hopefully Martha read this because she hates whenever I say, “she got all mad.” She thinks I’m being dramatic or something.)
All these recipes are incredibly delicious. They’re like some vegetable dishes made entirely of mayonnaise and sugar and everybody loves em! So, now that I live in a community house and have to make dinner once a week I usually think of recipes my aunt or grandma have tried in the past. I’ll always call and then we’ll take a significant chunk of time just to figure out what recipe I am talking about.
My aunt and my grandma are the same person, although I’m sure they’ll both kill me for saying that. My mom, dad, and aunt came out to visit for graduation. People kept saying, “Your mom is SOO FUNNY!!” and I’d say, “that’s my aunt.” My aunt and dad left their legacy on Abbotsford as those people who kept handing people their garbage and saying, “here, take care of this.” I was talking about my grandma to one of my friends the other day and they said, “is she just like your aunt?” So I showed them this picture.
My grandma lost her sense of smell and taste a while back. I mean, she can taste if it is really strong, but she does not taste things the same as everyone else, that is for sure. A couple years ago she started improvising in recipes. This did not go over well with my family. When they served themselves some curry and found apple in the mixture, faces were made, now we kinda like it. When she made her classic grilled cheese everyone got very excited, when they noticed the bacon had been replaced with apples the world halted. (My grandma loves adding apples to things). One time she made “jello salad” it was yellow jello with chopped up carrots and celery floating inside it.
I am making dinner tonight and Cindy suggested meatloaf. My aunt has this meatloaf recipe that everybody loves. It is so good and simple. I called my aunts house and my grandma answered. The conversation went like this:
Me: Hey grandma, I am making meatloaf tonight for dinner, I was wondering if you could tell me aunt Martha’s recipe?
Grandma: Oh, ok, sure. Now, do you want my recipe?
Me: Is that the one Martha makes?
Grandma: Yes, but I make it with cottage cheese and it is really good. Martha doesn’t like to add cottage cheese to hers.
Me: Yeah, I think I’ll just get Martha’s recipe.
Grandma: Ok, well, I have to look for it… [moments pass as if she is looking for it] I’ll call you back. I am making a sandwich. IT’S ONLY 2:30 YA KNOW! (She says it like this, because she is trying to justify eating her lunch so late.)
So grandma calls me back about 15 minutes later and tells me that she found her recipe. She says this is the recipe that Martha uses, she just doesn’t include the cottage cheese. She goes on this long elaborate description of this recipe and includes all these ingredients I never remember using. She starts going through the ingredients of the meatloaf, then the sauce, then the stuffing….? Then she starts telling me how everybody loves stuffing in their meatloaf and then I don’t have to worry about making potatoes with it. (Just so you know, there is apples in the stuffing) Then she says, “Now, the recipe calls for 1/2 cup cottage cheese, but Martha has crossed it out and written ‘No!!”
About 5 minutes after hanging up with my grandma I get a call from my aunt. She opens with, “Grandma just called me and said you asked for the meatloaf recipe. She said she didn’t tell you about the mustard but told you about the nutmeg? You haven’t gone shopping yet have you? I am calling to tell you the right recipe.” She gave me the recipe, 4 ingredients… Then went on for 5 minutes talking about how grandma added peppers one time and when my aunt complained she said, “Well, they are good and I cut them big enough so you could pick them out.” And my aunt said it made the entire meatloaf taste like pepper and it was not her favorite and she couldn’t eat it.
The post it notes on the left are the ingredients from my grandma’s recipe. The post it note on the right is my aunts recipe. Not entirely sure which one I will use…
Missio Dei Latte 