What's Cookin'?

Kayla has left me with a tough act to follow. What a great blog, Miss Roving Reporter. I could smell Maw Maw's chocolate on bread as you spoke about it. That was just one of the staples that I grew up on. Not candy and chips, but chocolate on bread was our treat. I don't know why, but mom would always be so embarrassed if we spoke about it outside the family. Not that it really was a secret recipe...just that it was such a simple treat that we were so appreciative of, I guess. Not very highfalutin. Had to look that word up, it really is one! Basically it was just a chocolate syrup (homemade of course) that she meticulously spread onto bread and then baked till the chocolate hardened a bit. And, I'm not using the word meticulously loosely, either. That syrup was spread so carefully to the edge of the bread, making sure every millimeter was covered, yet making sure there wasn't one drop over the edge. Anal? Now you know where I get it. Another thing that mom didn't share with the world was her shrimp gumbo that was so loved by our family, but sheltered from the outside world. If you would have seen her gumbo, you wouldn't have believed she was born and raised in Cameron, Louisiana. Her gumbo had no roux. She just browned her onions and bell peppers and more or less added the water and shrimp. It was sort of like Jesus turning the water into wine. I never understood how she did it, she just did. Rice was also a daily commodity at our house like any other good Cajun family. Gravy was only one of the many things we put over rice. Let's see, sweet peas, stewed potatoes, butter beans, blackeyed peas, and Chef Boyardee. Yes, right out of the can poured over rice. Mom always told us you needed the rice to soak up all the extra sauce. Having four kids of my own now, I'm sure it was so that she didn't haven to open so many cans! I did have four brothers besides my sister, you know. She had to stretch those meals, somehow. Thinking back, my favorite meal was when she would make fried potato sandwiches. Add mustard, salt and pepper and you've got a gourmet meal. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Can't tell you the last time I've had one of those. Then there was the "after swimming" menu...peanut butter and syrup sandwiches. There was nothing else like it to stick to your ribs after a long day at our local "Lakeview" swimming pool. Mom wasn't alone, Dad was also known for throwing a few things into the mix. We'd have "pancake Sunday nights" every now and then, making breakfast still my favorite meal anytime of the day. He had a few secret recipes up his sleeve, as well. His "sugared popcorn" couldn't be beat. Then there were his homemade donuts. Ok, so that wasn't one of my favorites, but trust me, they were gobbled up. I wasn't really sure in what direction today's post was going. I certainly didn't plan on going into a diatribe of the Trahan's eating habits while growing up. But you know, food is one of those things that's close to our hearts. As mom and dad provided these simple meals, I doubt that they realized at the time what fond memories that were making for us. Thanks, mom and dad!





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