My changing of age.
I became a parent to a wonderful baby boy in the nick of biological time. I was almost 39 yrs. old and my husband was 51 yrs. We talked about becoming parents for almost 2 years and then took the leap of faith. I consumed no sugar during my pregnancy and read every pregnancy/mothering book I could find...always skipping the C-section chapter. A girl with big hips was certainly never going down that road. So she thought. How it all unfolded is of little consequence because when the bundle of joy finally lands into your hands, nothing else in the world matters. I told my son that when I heard his first cry I felt like the Grinch who finally understood “love”, as my heart exploded in my chest and grew much much larger. Entering motherhood brings a flood of endorphins!
Children grow quickly and too soon our baby was crawling. One day I watched him crawl across the floor and stop at a hard shadow that fell across our carpet. With his little fingers he tried repeatedly to grasp the shadow but couldn’t pick it up. Eventually, he put his face down to the carpet and tried to lick the shadow off the carpet. Wow, it makes perfect sense that babies explore the world in this way but to witness it felt miraculous. Even at this young age we are on the move to understand our surroundings and hopefully find something tasty. Shane, how do shadows taste? This is one of the surprising things I found about parenting; observing children grow allows for some interesting introspection as the world continues to unfold full circle for us. Parenting is perhaps the most profound growth inducing experience.
Every parent’s age brings something different to the table. No matter how old you are, being ready and willing to put your child’s welfare first. By age 39 I had some self-assurance, calmness, and financial security on my side. What I did not have was good knees to crawl around the floor! I had time to ponder the values I would embrace to raise my son. I remembered the values I was raised with and thought, “this one can stay and that one can go.”
I wondered if I was one of the first generations to have this luxury? I feel we transform so subtly that we forget how much we may have changed by adulthood, having become a stranger from our childhood self. I am grateful I have some “old” friends and family who can help remind me of my childhood misadventures and silliness. My mother used to tell me I kissed every bug growing up. I even hid worms in our basement as pets (perhaps because I was not allowed a real pet?). That sure didn’t last long. The bug kissing or my worm hotel. I confess that I still sometimes will rescue a worm who needs help...but I digress. What I wanted to say is we are all powerhouses. We are many layers of complexity having absorbed much from life. Our memories and experiences are recyclable when we share them.
Children grow quickly and too soon our baby was crawling. One day I watched him crawl across the floor and stop at a hard shadow that fell across our carpet. With his little fingers he tried repeatedly to grasp the shadow but couldn’t pick it up. Eventually, he put his face down to the carpet and tried to lick the shadow off the carpet. Wow, it makes perfect sense that babies explore the world in this way but to witness it felt miraculous. Even at this young age we are on the move to understand our surroundings and hopefully find something tasty. Shane, how do shadows taste? This is one of the surprising things I found about parenting; observing children grow allows for some interesting introspection as the world continues to unfold full circle for us. Parenting is perhaps the most profound growth inducing experience.
Every parent’s age brings something different to the table. No matter how old you are, being ready and willing to put your child’s welfare first. By age 39 I had some self-assurance, calmness, and financial security on my side. What I did not have was good knees to crawl around the floor! I had time to ponder the values I would embrace to raise my son. I remembered the values I was raised with and thought, “this one can stay and that one can go.”
I wondered if I was one of the first generations to have this luxury? I feel we transform so subtly that we forget how much we may have changed by adulthood, having become a stranger from our childhood self. I am grateful I have some “old” friends and family who can help remind me of my childhood misadventures and silliness. My mother used to tell me I kissed every bug growing up. I even hid worms in our basement as pets (perhaps because I was not allowed a real pet?). That sure didn’t last long. The bug kissing or my worm hotel. I confess that I still sometimes will rescue a worm who needs help...but I digress. What I wanted to say is we are all powerhouses. We are many layers of complexity having absorbed much from life. Our memories and experiences are recyclable when we share them.
Food- Remembered Through the Ages
Paging through the years I ask, “ How might we wish to be remembered?” In cooking it is likely we all have fond recollections of family dishes. Hopefully recipes not lost or forgotten! My advice is to enjoy sharing your best recipes! Share them with your family, friends, and the Internet. In a very tasty way, we can all leave something behind. How often do our friends congregate in our kitchen where the delicious smells from the oven or the promise of a tasty treat keep us in suspense? Isn’t the making of favorite family dishes part of the holiday tradition we love best? My father’s cabbage rolls and my mother’s strudel are recipes safe within me. I share my recipes on my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/4waystoyummy/). While my son may not appreciate some of the traditional dishes I cook, thankfully there is always someone who does!
You might wonder what is the oldest recipe still prepared? No one really knows. If I say the recipe is 7-8000 yrs old, would you guess...stew? Or perhaps tamales, a mesoamerican dish, first prepared between 8000- 5000BC. Other old recipes include pancakes, pilaf, curry, cheesecake, kheer, and garum. Some historians even attribute the origin of the burger to ancient Rome, circa 4th century AD. “The 1,500-year-old food recipe, which has survived in the extant ancient Roman cookbook Apicius: De Re Coquinaria, involved mixing the minced meat, condiments, pine nuts, white wine, and the famous Garum fish sauce, and cooking the resultant patties over an open fire.” Wow, I’m thinking I may need to update my burger recipe!
On Whidbey Island, we live a bit isolated and dinner parties are a welcome source of entertainment (pre-pandemic). While my friends can all cook we are older too and wish to make meals simpler. In many ways we have. While we strive to treat our friends to the best we can, we do have to recognize our limits and remain sane. Appetizer party anyone? How about a group effort dinner like making wontons together? A crockpot soup supper with home-baked bread? Or a modern twist might be to try a sheet pan dinner. While the food is important it is sharing and connecting that truly makes it so special. I find gathering in our homes is relaxing, comfortable, and intimate.
Paging through the years I ask, “ How might we wish to be remembered?” In cooking it is likely we all have fond recollections of family dishes. Hopefully recipes not lost or forgotten! My advice is to enjoy sharing your best recipes! Share them with your family, friends, and the Internet. In a very tasty way, we can all leave something behind. How often do our friends congregate in our kitchen where the delicious smells from the oven or the promise of a tasty treat keep us in suspense? Isn’t the making of favorite family dishes part of the holiday tradition we love best? My father’s cabbage rolls and my mother’s strudel are recipes safe within me. I share my recipes on my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/4waystoyummy/). While my son may not appreciate some of the traditional dishes I cook, thankfully there is always someone who does!
You might wonder what is the oldest recipe still prepared? No one really knows. If I say the recipe is 7-8000 yrs old, would you guess...stew? Or perhaps tamales, a mesoamerican dish, first prepared between 8000- 5000BC. Other old recipes include pancakes, pilaf, curry, cheesecake, kheer, and garum. Some historians even attribute the origin of the burger to ancient Rome, circa 4th century AD. “The 1,500-year-old food recipe, which has survived in the extant ancient Roman cookbook Apicius: De Re Coquinaria, involved mixing the minced meat, condiments, pine nuts, white wine, and the famous Garum fish sauce, and cooking the resultant patties over an open fire.” Wow, I’m thinking I may need to update my burger recipe!
On Whidbey Island, we live a bit isolated and dinner parties are a welcome source of entertainment (pre-pandemic). While my friends can all cook we are older too and wish to make meals simpler. In many ways we have. While we strive to treat our friends to the best we can, we do have to recognize our limits and remain sane. Appetizer party anyone? How about a group effort dinner like making wontons together? A crockpot soup supper with home-baked bread? Or a modern twist might be to try a sheet pan dinner. While the food is important it is sharing and connecting that truly makes it so special. I find gathering in our homes is relaxing, comfortable, and intimate.
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Tool Fascination - Through the Ages
Our earliest tools were made from wood, stone, or bone. Tools are ingenious additions that can make our work faster, easier, and more precise. My friend who has arthritic hands likes to use a rock she found in her garden as her garlic smasher! I love this idea. Rock tools tap into our past while being both clever and cost-free. She claims the rock tool is dishwasher safe! LOL I love kitchen tools and noticed early on that the cling, clang, whizz, bang, ding, dong and thump lured Little Ones into the kitchen. Give children a whisk and a bowl with some water to practice whisking technique and build up their fine motor skills. Let them observe how the tool transforms water (with a drop of soap) into a frothy bubbly magical event. What fun! Let very young children wash unbreakable dishes in the sink, the way Adele’s mother is allowing her three-year-old to help in the kitchen. Nice work Adele! I remember a time when I was visiting my parents in Austria and my son was playing with Beatrice, a 5-year girl from the neighborhood. I watched how perfectly these two children, who could not speak each other’s language, were steadily engaged in their work of mixing water, leaves, and mud in a bucket. Those were the days when Shane was enthralled with being Harry Potter. When I asked my son what he was doing, he told me they were making a potion for a spell. When I asked Beatrice what they were making she cried, “Essen fur die Familie”, dinner for the family, of course! I’ll take happiness and contentment anytime and in any form! I think we all remember our imaginative play days with fondness and they taught us much. If you are in need of a gift for a child, think practical and experiential. A recipe, a pretty bowl, and a whisk make a thoughtful and personal gift for a budding chef. Mortar/pestle, colander, citrus press are all perfect tools for beginners in the kitchen. A box grater is one of my favorite tools for children to explore. I’ll even include my “Grate Great Carrots’ page from 4 Ways to Yummy Children’s Vegetable cookbook to get you started! Make sure kids are ready for the tool you’re introducing and maintain control of the project until you feel comfortable with their performance. Have children stand when working so they have good form and control when mixing, peeling, or chopping food at the table. I’m also a fan of washing hands well, rolling up sleeves and pulling hair back before working in the kitchen. |
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Project Ideas
Find a fun project like decorating the handles of wooden spoons. I sometimes shorten wood-handled spoons for children to make stirring easier. I paint the words “sweet” and “savory” on my wooden spoons in order to keep those tastes separate. Garlic smell or taste in my butter cookies...no thank you. Older children can wood burn designs onto spoons. I made a set of these spoons to thank the children who cooked for my Yummy page and the response I got from the kids was amazing. Children love having something that’s completely their own. Take a fun family hike and find yourself a garlic smasher! Make sure one side of the rock is perfectly flat and smooth. Each family member can search for the rock shape and size that works best for their hand and decorate them. Tools are fantastic and I love the old ones that I may find at a thrift store or barn sale. I’m especially fond of my giant food mill that I use every year to make loads of applesauce. I have asked my son to please take it to remember me by when I am gone. Am I being silly again? Papa says “No”. I say, “Probably”. Dalai and I wish you a happy, tasty cooking adventure, and...we wish we could be there with you! |
Heide Horeth and Dalai
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