THE HISTORY OF MY GRANDMOTHER'S COOKING

Grilled cheese with tomato soup,
Fritos on the side.

Ham Salad from the meat grinder,
passed down from generations.

Meatloaf with stewed tomatoes,
brown on the ends.

Fried flounder with potatoes au gratin,
crispy layer on top.

Baked Virginia ham with green beans,
snapped earlier outback.

Butter, bacon, glistening on pole limas,
found at a roadside stand.

Shepherd’s pie with crusty potatoes,
baked longingly in a Pyrex dish.

Sweet potatoes with mini marshmallows,
always on the holiday tables.

Slabs of juicy, crimson garden tomatoes,
a blob of mayonnaise on top.

Pork roast in sweet sauerkraut,
turned dark with the juices.

London Broil with peppers and onions,
soaked in Italian dressing all day.

Chocolate pudding with a skin coating,
made in the early afternoon.

Pineapple upside down cake,
dripping with sweetness.

Bright yellow ears of Jersey corn,
boiled in the great aluminum pot.

Creamed chipped beef on toast,
flowed carefully over the bread.

Pancakes and sausage links for dinner
never seen as the wrong time.

Corn fritters in powdered sugar,
that seemed a strange idea for food.

Applesauce cake loaded with raisins
made especially for me.

Round chocolate peanut butter candies
in little tins for Christmas.

Chex party mixes with Worcestershire
the treat for New Year’s Eve.

Tender little plump blueberries
sitting in milk with gritty sugar.

Hunks of watermelon shaken with salt,
to bring out the flavor.

Cream cheese and olive sandwiches,
always on white bread.

Browned scrapple slabs cooked just right,
couldn’t be served without ketchup.

Fried egg sandwiches with pepper,
the old standby lunch.

Pearl onions swimming in cream sauce,
that’s Thanksgiving for me.

Country style ribs with baked beans
stewing all day.

Chicken and dumplings, not square
the size of baseballs.

Hamburgs in the frying pan,
how they were always cooked.

Tomatoes topped with breadcrumbs
buttered, then broiled.

Vegetable soup with bits of ground beef
that seemed to float to the top.

Reviews

[Emily B]

Don't forget to call me in to supper.

Culinary knowledge is the most important inheritance from our grandmothers.