Our book club (Minter Lane, now in its 21st year) just finished Consuming Passions; a Food-Obsessed Life. I would recommend it--funny, full of good recipes and a look at Southern culture. I quote from two sections: "...My family lives on in their recipes. I bring Mimi's chocolate cake to potlucks, and Aunt Tempe's majestic coconut layer cake to holiday parties. I make Aunt Blanche's pancakes on Sunday mornings. The aunts, living and dead, left me with a legacy of food." " In our family, a meal at Mama's house is a lesson in genealogy. Each dish has a pedigree, going back many generations. Whether it's genes or environment, I couldn't escape stories--or recipes--if I tried."
I thought about those sentences as I fixed Orange Salad Supreme for Brandon this week for probably the 50th time. It came from a favorite aunt Dorothy who got it from a relative of her husband [don't know who]. He has learned to fix it at home and perhaps his girls will carry it to their homes as they marry. And that is the way family history develops.
Lord, thank you for all the good cooks in my heritage--I honor them as they honored you in hundreds of potlucks, food to the bereaved,and dishes for those who were ill.
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