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Food and Drink

More than a meal from my mom
glendabyline

One day when we were jointly planning a dinner, my mom looked me in the eye and said, 58 years of marriage, three meals a day, 365 days a year – but, oh, take off a few meals a year for dining out.

Well, you do the math. No matter which way you add it up, that’s one heck of a lot of meal planning and prep.

Don’t get me wrong. My mom loves to cook and is brilliant at it. All my cousins, and I’m sure more than a few neighbourhood slackers, loved coming to Auntie Joyce’s house for dinner. In Edmonton back in the 1960s, she was truly avant-garde, venturing into Italian spaghetti sauce made with wine and spices tied up in a little sack cut from the toe of a clean pair of pantyhose, or cooking rice with stir-fry when everyone else was still serving meat loaf and potatoes.

And it wasn’t just the food. When company came for dinner she was so relaxed and confident, she put everyone at ease and created a bon vivant atmosphere as enjoyable as the meal.

People thought she was quite the wizard; I still do.

Mom collects recipe books like some people collect hockey cards. She can read a recipe like a well-seasoned veteran of mystery novels can read a book jacket – she knows exactly how things will turn out and whether the darn thing is worth delving into.

Once I told her I made some recipe I found in the newspaper that, despite the seemingly good combination of ingredients, turned out to be a dud. Show it to me, she said. I did. Oh no, she said quietly, meaning, I wouldn’t make that. How she could tell remains a mystery to me, much like a psychic’s preternatural gifts that shouldn’t be questioned when you encounter them.

So on that particular day she wasn’t complaining per se, merely tallying up the facts of life for a woman in a traditional relationship from another generation, who is expected to do most of the cooking.

Okay, okay, maybe she was whinging, just a little, but not about the actual work involved in getting a full-meal deal ready for a tableful of people. What exasperated her after all these years was continuously coming up with the concept for a meal: a salad that went with the main course, a dessert that fit the meal and everyone’s expectations and allergies, and a total scheme that was doable in terms of ingredients and budget.

I still think some of the finest meals I’ve ever had were the ones I had at home as a kid and a teenager, and the ones I am still lucky enough to enjoy today in my mom and dad’s home.

Mom has long since branched out from the steak scramble and ambrosia salads of yesteryear. But we were just saying on the phone the other day how good some of those old-time dishes are – most of us seem to have passed them over in the kitchen-style scramble of today.

You likely have some great recipes in your tattered recipe box from your mom, as I do from mine. I’ve been making an effort in recent years to collect them, for I can think of no better way to pay tribute to my mom’s great art and at the same time recreate just a fraction of the goodness she has shared with various configurations of our family at those 63,000-odd meals.

So here’s to you mom, and all the other moms busy planning and creating meals day-in, day-out that satisfy body and soul. In the spirit of Mother’s Day, I’m sharing with you a couple of her easy, all-time classics. You can be sure they won’t let you down.

Hawaiian chicken bake

5 large chicken breasts or a 3.25 to 3.5-lb cut-up fryer

2 tbsp butter

1 cup crushed pineapple, drained

3 tbsp prepared mustard

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup sherry or white wine

1/2 tsp salt

Paprika

Arrange chicken, skin side up, in shallow, greased pan. In a small pot, melt the butter, and stir in the drained pineapple, mustard, honey, sherry and salt. Spoon sauce evenly over the chicken. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, until tender. Brown under the broiler for the final five minutes if you like. This sauce is also good with pork chops. Serve with rice and broccoli.

Mom’s sesame broccoli

Steam broccoli for 2-3 people. Add sauce made with: 1 tbsp oil, 1 tbsp vinegar, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 — 1 tbsp sugar (to taste), 1-2 tbsp roasted sesame seeds.

Mom’s tuna casserole

1 7-oz tin chunked tuna, drained

1 cup chopped celery

1/2 — 3/4 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup frozen peas

1 can mushroom soup

1/4 can water

1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds or cashews

2 cups chow mein noodles (from the bulk bin)

Slowly add water to soup; stir in remaining ingredients. Bake in a 350 oven 40 - 45 minutes, no lid. Good with a green salad or broccoli. As easy to make as KD.

5 cup salad

1 cup commercial sour cream

1 cup mandarin orange segments (drained)

1 cup flaked or shredded coconut

1 cup pineapple tidbits (drained)

1 cup miniature marshmallows

Combine and refrigerate overnight or at least 8 hours. Good as a salad or dessert. Everybody will ask for the recipe.

Glenda Bartosh is an award-winning freelance writer who enjoys five cup salad for the occasional breakfast.