Here are some of My Favorite Memories With Family and Food. We had some great cooks in our family and lots of different taste buds. Growing up my family was spread all over the great state of Texas. We would only get together twice a year. Everyone would bring one of their favorite recipes to share with everyone. I loved these gatherings and all of the food.
Here are Some of My Favorite Memories With Family and Food
Amazingly we all have great memories of our childhood. It seems that it always was surrounded with delicious family recipes and lots of laughs. No matter if you lived locally or drove 12 hours to get to the host home, everyone enjoyed our visits. I remember one time my Dad’s cousin came to visit from Alaska. We got to stay up extra late listening to his bear stories and adventures. He kept our attention with those stories and we laughed for hours.
Growing up in a small, cozy town of 10,000 people and my parents owned the local hardware store on the town square, we knew everyone. And everyone knew us. Sometimes that was good and sometimes not so much. I do have some of my fondest memories of growing up.
Our family lived on a plot of land that was 4 acres. Due to the fact that we planted a huge garden that was 75′ x 50′, we always had a freezer full of foods. Everything in the garden was often included in our Fall celebrations. They included corn, green beans, carrots and others. We jarred a lot of things. My favorite was homemade pickles. I have my mom’s recipe and I think I will make some soon. We also pickled beets, pickled okra and onions. These are some of my fondest memories when we got to dig up potatoes to be used in recipes for various dishes.
No matter what we did, every holiday or special occasion was surrounded with food, family recipes and memories. Below I hope you enjoy hearing some of my wonderful memories from my childhood.
Easter Sunday Has Suits & Skirts And The First Presbyterian Church. Another one of My Memories With Family and Food
Every Easter Sunday brought many special memories with my family. We would wake up to a beautiful Easter basket waiting on the sofa for us. Inside each basket were favorite trinkets, toys and our favorite chocolates for both of my brothers and myself.
Soon after the excitement of our Easter baskets we would eat breakfast. Normally this delicious meal would consist of biscuits, bacon and two fried eggs.
Next, we all would get ready for church. My family attended the Historic First Presbyterian Church in Clarksville, TX. Besides attending this church every year, my family had generations sitting in the pews. We all sat together and filled more than one row of pews somedays.
After my grandfather passed, my family even purchased a beautiful wooden cross and gave it to the church. To this day it is proudly displayed at the front of the sanctuary with a small plack with his name on it.
Lunch was an event on Easter Sunday. I enjoyed every one of these memories. The table was always set so nice. Always with a vase of fresh flowers which included Tulips. Our Easter menu included: Baked Ham, Fresh Green Beans, Scalloped potatoes and of course Deviled Eggs.
In addition to Easter, this church would have Church Suppers once a month. Everyone would fix their favorite family recipes and bring for everyone to sample. These events had some of the best foods ever. Many went back for seconds of each of these recipes. I often tried different dishes that I had never tried. To this day I love to try (at least once) new dishes.
4th of July at The Lake With Skis, Sunscreen And Sunburns
Every 4th of July, as a child, we were at the lake. This is one of My Favorite Memories. Camping, riding our motorcycles, waterskiing, as well as getting sunburned. My older brother and myself, both ivory skin and strawberry blonde hair would burn. I was so extremely jealous of my younger brother – he had olive toned skin and black hair. He got so dark without burning.
As a rule, we would grill burgers, hot dogs and add potato salad, baked beans, chips and a cold drink. This was so good and yet we all loved sitting around the grill. We would talk and laugh about our day on the water and the motorcycles. One of my favorite events on the 4th of July was watching the fireworks after dark. Despite not fixing our family recipes, we all loved the dogs and burgers. After a day of water skiing we had an opportunity to refuel our bodies!
Just as I remember once my cousin John was with us at the lake and he and I wanted to water ski. My dad agreed and we both got into the water and prepared to ski. John was about 15 yrs older than me. I was probably 12 and may have been 90 pounds soaking wet. We were ready. My dad gunned it and John looked like he was drowning as the water shot over his head and into his face. He swallowed a lot of water that day.
So as John struggled, I did pretty well for it being my first time to waterski. I popped up as my Dad gunned the boat. I will never forget as I laughed at John as he attempted to drown. Consequently, I enjoyed water skiing from that day forward. I also love to go fishing just as I often did with my Dad. Today I could not be happier that I am married to a wonderful many that also love to fish.
Thanksgiving Is For Giving Thanks With Chocolate Pie And Dallas Cowboy Football.
This November celebration of our forefathers and what they did to get here and to expand into our nation is one of my favorite holidays. Almost every year we turn on the TV and watch Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and are always amazed at the talent of those that create the floats.
Everything I love is on the table…including a beautiful tablecloth, candlesticks and fresh flowers. My mom was a super good cook. I am so happy to know that I have many of her handwritten dishes. She was a Master at presenting the table and food to everyone. I learned from her as I also love a beautiful table.
Often we would have neighbors or friends to join us. Some would bring a dish of something that would compliment our Thanksgiving meal. For example, a traditional feast would include these family recipes: Turkey, Carrots, Brussel Sprouts, Green Bean Casserole and my favorite Cornbread Dressing. Not only did we devour these items, but we also had what I called a relish tray. The relish tray included: black olives, pickled okra, baby carrots, celery sticks and some nuts.
Typically the Dallas Cowboys always play at 4:20 that day. Since I grew up as a Massive Dallas Cowboy fan I would always watch the game. Most of the time my Dad, Mom and myself would stick with them to the end of the game. Neither of my brothers liked to watch sports but I made up for their lack of interest with all sports. I actually got a degree in Physical Education.
Here you can see some of my favorite recipes that are tried and true. Enjoy!