Food For Thought

If you read this blog on a regular basis, you already know that we are not home very often.  Put it on the calendar, we (yes, that even means TJ) have been home for  two weeks in a row!  Whoo hoo!  I realized this in the grocery store, of all places.  Do you know how nice it was to be able to buy food and know that we would be home long enough to cook and eat it?

When I am "away" in Nova Scotia, I am actually in one place for about 3 months.  We don't really go anywhere else when we are there.  There is no kenneling the dog, no stopping the mail or the paper and no booking flights and rental cars and a lot of cooking and eating at home.  I get to buy food at Costco plus we have a giant garden and ample opportunities to cook and serve all that food.  When we are home in Houston, we really aren't "at home" that much.  My refrigerator is proof.  It becomes one giant science project.  I go to the grocery store with  good intentions of buying fresh produce and baked goods with plans to cook healthy meals at home.  I end up cooking about one out of four of those well intended meals every week. Something always comes up!  There is the occasional business dinner or TJ goes away on a business trip (and I eat popcorn for dinner) or  I go out with friends or we end up playing golf and staying at the golf club for dinner (after all, who has the energy to cook after playing golf? ....that's my story and I'm sticking to it, don't say a word!) .  Such is the life of an"empty nester".   Whatever the situation, those well intended meals go uncooked, uneaten and fermenting.....

I am not complaining....as a matter of fact for the first 30 years of our 33 year marriage I would have gladly not cooked a meal every night.  I would have been happy if we could afford to eat out once every month much less every week.  Ah, those were the days....we had four children to feed every night so I have done more than my share of meal preparation over the years.  I still find myself unable to cook for only two people, I learned to cook for six, it's hard to scale back.  This often results in a lot of leftovers....and a few science projects in the fridge.  This week it resulted in some delicious leftovers, that we actually finished!  Looks like I need to go to the grocery store....again!  Sometimes it is just fun to cook and sometimes it is fun to make reservations... no matter what is sitting in the fridge!

Channeling Grandma

Do certain foods bring back memories for you? I am on my way to a gastronomic journey back in time.

My mother's side of the family is from Slovakia. My grandmother was always cooking and everything she cooked was awesome! It was good home cooking with a Slovak twist. She usually had a pot of chicken soup with homemade dumplings going on the stove. Stuffed cabbage, which she called pigs in the blanket, was one of my favorites as well. She made the best chicken paprikash, which has become one of our family's favorite comfort foods during the winter, YUM! The best thing she ever made for us, and everyone within a 10 mile radius, was kolache.



My grandmother would make these delicious nut filled or poppyseed filled pastries and mail them to us wherever we lived. One of my childhood's fondest memories was getting a package from grandma and finding kolache and kifli (small cookies made with the same but sweeter pastry and nut filling) and assorted other goodies grandma deemed suitable for her grandchildren.

TJ and I are going on our next big adventure and it is to Budapest. As I have been doing research for our trip I have noticed that the food in Hungary has a distinct Slovak influence. I will only be 2 hours by train from Bratislava, where my mother's family is originally from, and am seriously contemplating a day trip. When will I ever have that opportunity again? Back to the subject at hand, the food is making me think of grandma! I can't wait to order chicken paprikash and stuffed cabbage (which I might resemble when I finish all the eating I am planning to do)and to find my first kolache and to taste homemade dumplings! It will be like a giant hug from grandma.

I am wondering if hearing the language will remind me of my grandmother sitting at her little telephone table chatting in Slovakian to her lady friends.




One thing I am not looking forward to is the endless flight from Houston to Budapest. 12+ hours which will be spent catching up on movies in a Tylenol PM induced fog and trying to get at least 6 hours of sleep and not go completely stir crazy while shifting constantly in an effort to find a comfortable position. No full size fold out bed/seat pod with room service for these budget travelers. Nope, we plan to spend our money on FOOD and wine!