Most of my tweets and facebook status updates have to do with food. I love food. I get excited about food that I love. I'm a verbal eater, meaning I ooh and aah over the best bites.I'm not exactly a brave eater. The menus around our house are not necessarily adventurous or overly creative. We eat a lot of the same things a lot of the time. But none the less, I love food.
Particularly I love baked goods. Sweet breads, doughs, cookies, brownies, cakes, cupcakes. I do my best to only make these when a particular activity necessitates it, or when people come over. We have people over a lot.
I also love heritage. My paternal grandma, Bernadine Carter (Grandma Bernie, to me) has always given great attention to the preparation of food. "Presentation is half the battle," she always says. Her mashed potatoes are as smooth as she is thorough. But her great attention to food stems from her great value of people. She always wants to present the best, not so she'll get the praise, but so that the people she serves feel deeply cared for.
Years ago, she was the "chairperson" for the committee who put together a cookbook through their little country church. Bethel Church is a sweet little church in the country just outside Farmer City, IL. It is where my Grandma grew up. It is where my Grandpa's father was the preacher. It is where all of my dad's cousins grew up in Sunday School and social gatherings. Until my dad's generation moved out of the area, it was where 75-100 people would cram into the little basement every November for Thanksgiving dinner. Aunt Toosie always brought the noodles and Grandma her mashed potatoes! It is where most of my extended family met Jon. We were "only friends" though.
Anyway, this cookbook called "Recipes and Remembrances" is one of my treasured possessions. It is full of recipes, mostly from my family, and from the other members of Bethel who were like family. As I turn the pages of this recipe book, I'm filled with thankfulness for all the people who shared recipes, but who also shared life with my family, the good and the bad.
My banana bread recipe is from this book. Nothing fancy. Just a list of ingredients all dumped in a bowl and mixed well. I've added a few of my own things to it, but at it's core, it will always be Great Grandma Pearl's recipe. And I love it.
One of the other cherished recipes is Grandma's Apple Crisp. My Grandpa worked at the University of Illinois as an electrician for years and my Grandma would go to the orchard on campus each fall to get "educated apples" to make applesauce (another fav) and apple crisp. She always gets Jonathan apples. They are bright red and tart. A mixture of flour, cinnamon, sugar and butter go on top. And my mouth is watering. It's the perfect fall treat, and even Jon, who doesn't like fruit, loves it!
