"Mickey Mornings.."

Breakfast has always been one of my favorite meals.

Honestly, I could eat breakfast food for lunch and dinner as well. But when my kids were growing up, it was always a rush in the morning to get ready for work and school. Consequently, during the week, it was usually cereal or a Pop-tart as we ran out the door.

They DID love frozen waffles though, so one day while wandering around a cooking store, I saw a magical piece of cooking equipment stashed behind all of the professional pots and pans.

The familiar Disney face stared at me from the front of the box, begging me to pick it up. Reading the contents, I discovered I could make waffles that looked like Mickey Mouse in a non-stick, virtually foolproof waffle maker. No special mixes. 3-4 minutes per waffle. How could I resist the chance to so easily impress my kids?

So Mickey came home with me and the waffles became the “special” breakfast I would make for them when they had friends sleep over and on holidays. We’d put all kinds of toppings on the table and the kids would decorate their waffle with raisins, chocolate chips, berries, orange slices, whipped cream and fill in the crevices with the extras! (But of course, everyone always wanted to eat the ears first).

It became a tradition, and if I mistakenly put a box of cereal out on a sleepover weekend, you can bet they made sure I had that waffle maker out within a few minutes. Even throughout high school and when they came home from college, I would make the waffles for a special breakfast or just for fun!

I found the appliance in my cabinet last year when we were packing up and getting ready to move out of our house. Having been ruthless about getting rid of kitchen things I no longer used, I just couldn’t let go of Mickey. There was still a “need”, so he came with us to our new place.

I now have a 10 month-old granddaughter and she’s staring to eat “real” food. So, when they came to visit over the holidays, I couldn't wait to make the Mickey Mouse waffles. I was so excited to see her eat the little bits of waffle and smile.  I’m pretty sure she liked them, and my adult kids really enjoyed the memories that eating them brought back.

Since then, she’s even had a Mickey shaped pizza! (Genius idea!)

They’re heading to Disney World soon and I know seeing the "real" Mickey will put a smile on her face. 
Just as long as she doesn’t try to eat his ear!

"Your Mother Should Know..."

   

As I’ve said in previous posts, food and love often go hand in hand. This is especially true when we think of how our moms showed their love as we were growing up.

   I hear amazing stories of Sunday night spaghetti dinners with homemade sauce and pasta. Cake baked from scratch with special icings and fillings. Bread and pies sitting on the window-sill cooling; fragrant aromas wafting outside the house. Special dishes that are remembered forever. But my food memories are a little bit different.

   My mom is an amazing woman, but cooking was never her forte. Between golf, tennis, bowling, and mah jongg, the days kept her very busy.

   My dad had office hours two nights a week, they went out to dinner on Saturday night, and we often ate at the golf or swim club throughout the summer. I only liked hamburgers, and my dad would go out for a late night snack after dinner, so it was kind of hit or miss when she cooked. There wasn’t a great rush to cook gourmet meals.

But heaven knows she tried!!

   Honestly, she was creative if nothing else. She was the first person to reinvent guacamole by making “Broccomoli” dip as an appetizer.

   

Didn’t have the right ingredients on hand? No problem for mom. Just ask my kids about the time she made them chili with black-eyed peas. (Where she found them in my house I’ll never know). 

   But what I DO remember is that every Friday night, (Shabbat for Jewish families), she would cook dinner served at the dining room table, complete with linen tablecloth and silver wine cups.

   

There was always a fresh Challah bread from the local bakery, and she would make chopped liver as a start (I was never a fan, but all of the Friday night guests loved it).

   Roasted Chicken was the go-to main course. She didn’t want to mess with success so that’s what we had every week. It wasn’t bad, considering that her stove hadn’t been working at full capacity for years.

   Again, she was creative. Although the temperature in the oven never got above 250 degrees, she miraculously fully cooked the chicken by putting it in the oven around 10 AM for a 6 PM dinner. My husband compared it to a full-sized EZ Bake oven with the heating power of one light bulb.

So, do I have stacks of her recipes that I’ve cooked for my family? No.

But what I do have is her recipe for a wonderful life:

She doesn’t expect much, so she’s constantly overwhelmed by what she gets.

She never tried to “Keep Up With The Joneses” because she knew that if they really cared, they’d be there for her.

She is grateful for everything. Her health, her living situation, her friends, her children, grandchildren, and their families. She considers it a gift just to be here.

She never stops learning. Just like the recipe “tweaks”, she’ll try something new until she almost gets it and figure the rest out on her own. She’s a voracious reader. She Skypes & e-mails, texts, and calls on her IPhone. She has a Facebook page with more friends than me. She still does yoga when she can, even if it's sitting in a chair.

She is open to new friendships daily. She believes everyone has something to offer and tells me stories about the interesting people she talks to all of the time.

She loves her family unconditionally and we are the lucky recipients of her recipe for life! 

And I wouldn’t trade that for all of the pies and fried chicken in the world.

"I Scream. You Scream. We all Scream For ice Cream..."

I've always thought that food and love go hand in hand. Whether it’s chocolates and champagne, or steak and lobster, most of us celebrate love with food.

For me, it’s ice cream. I rarely had ice cream while growing up, though. My dad was more of a Mallomar and donuts lover, so that was what we had in the house. Maybe a scoop at Baskin-Robbins every now and then, but it wasn’t at the top of my list.

That is, until I started dating my husband.

Disco dancing was very big when we started dating, so we would all work up an appetite dancing.  And, although Cincinnati is known for it’s late night chili parlors, we found a restaurant atop the Stouffer’s hotel that served dessert all night.

Trying to be “healthy”, I ordered a single scoop of vanilla ice cream, but he ordered a sundae called the “Georgian Chocolate Monkey” that changed everything I thought about ice cream!

Layered in a parfait glass were several scoops of chocolate and peanut butter ice cream, banana slices, hot fudge sauce, peanut butter sauce, peanuts and of course, whipped cream and a cherry!

He politely asked me if I wanted to taste it. I took one bite and kept "tasting" until it was almost halfway gone. I then looked up to see everyone at the table laughing since I had practically finished his whole sundae. 

After that, ice cream was our go-to dessert. I learned the joys of Graeter’s French pot ice cream with chunks of chocolate the size of a candy bar.

When we moved to Columbus, Swensen’s was our favorite after-movie gathering place. We were there so much that our kids were on a first-name basis with the owner, Mr. Knight.

And we've spent many a summer night in St. Louis lined up outside the windows at Ted Drewe's, waiting for the ice creamy, custardy concrete.

Before bedtime bowls of ice cream became a ritual in our house and our kids were part of it too. Watching TGIF, or Friends, or even the news, it became a family tradition! Whenever we visit Cincinnati, we can't leave without having a few scoops of Graeter's Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip.

And even though we’ve “downsized” to Skinny Cow bars and Weight Watcher single serving cups, ice cream time is still our special time to relax and unwind from the day. I rarely order dessert when I go out to dinner. I wait until I'm home in my PJs and eat my ice cream on the couch!

To me, ice cream is love!!  What food makes you the happiest?

Happy Valentine’s Day!