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Late last week, the Washington Post's Kim O'Donnel wrote a post on her blog, A Mighty Appetite, about the food that makes you cry. The food that evokes memory in a way that is bittersweet or layered and complex. She recounts a friend's tale of his mother's post-Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches and her own experience teaching a young friend to cook Joe's Special (the recipe is at the end of the post) while in Zambia.
For me, the foods that make me cry are linked to simple joyful times. During the years when I was in college, I always went home to live with my parents for the summers. On weekend mornings, my dad would often cook breakfast for us, concocting vast egg scrambles bursting with spinach, zucchini, tomatoes and basil from his garden. Having breakfast made for me always made me feel so cared for, a true sign of love through food.
What are the foods that make you cry? (Tears of joy and sadness are both welcome).
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10-17-2007 @2:51PM PAgent said... I had a "food that makes you cry" moment a few years ago. I blogged about it here:
http://pagentsprogress.com/?p=59
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10-17-2007 @3:22PM Melissa said... Where's the recipe for Joe's Special?
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10-17-2007 @3:30PM Marisa McClellan said... PAgent, thanks for sharing your story, it made me start to get teary.
Melissa, sorry, I should have been more clear. The recipe for Joe's Special is at the end of Kim O'Donnel's post.
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10-17-2007 @4:49PM eva said... PAgent, that sounds so much like my grandma's/moms/my comfort cooking . . . I welled up too.
Food that makes me cry is buttermilk blueberry pancakes, jostled over with my siblings (we all live so far apart, and s few are home ever) as my mom makes them as fast as she can on a buttered griddle; my husband's caprese salad, because he 'cooks' so little and is so proud to present it; my ancient aunt Louise's fried okra and creamed corn; crispy, pan-fried fish over a campfire.
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10-17-2007 @5:26PM LM said... With me it is not so much the food itself but the smell of a Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey cooking, that pervades the whole house, that makes me emotional. I love getting into bed when the day is over and still the smell lingers. Even the next day, though it maybe faint, the house has that holiday smell. By the time everyone has gotten up and moved around the air has cleared but then it's time for leftovers, which is not at all a bad thing.
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10-17-2007 @6:25PM Janis said... PAgent--thanks for sharing :)
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10-17-2007 @11:02PM Amy Bowers said... My dad's home fries. My dad died 2 years ago and one of my fondest memories is waking up in the morning to the smell of my dad cooking me home fries. It makes me remember how much he cared for me because even on days when I would show up in the middle of the night after going out, in the morning I would wake up to the smell of him cooking because he was happy I was there.
And just because I can't leave you with only a sad memory... The one that makes me happy is cooking Lebanese food with my mom. It's hard work but its amazing food and it gives me and my mom time to talk while we cook. We reap the rewards at the end with grape leaves, hummos, tabouleh, spinach pies, etc. Mmmm, now I'm hungry!
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10-18-2007 @12:44AM Jessica said... Big greasy cheeseburgers and pancakes on a Saturday morning (not together) with my Daddy. Trader Joe's hummus and meatloaf (not together, either) make me think of Mommy. Any time I eat a layer cake it makes me feel like home. :-)
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10-18-2007 @11:19AM Brooke said... I definitely have food that reminds me of things... but what this post makes me think about the most, are the things that I'm showing my son now. He's three, and I'm VERY conscious of the traditions and foods that we have, and what they might mean to him when he's older. For instance, he's in preschool now, and on school days we have a bigger than normal weekday breakfast - eggs, toast, bacon or something else. (http://brookesummer.blogspot.com/2007/10/another-new-tradition-taking-shape.html) I love traditions, and I don't think it's an accident that food plays such a huge part in so many traditions!
Bologna and cheese and mustard sandwiches with my dad... caramel brownies with my mom... dried pears and homemade popsicles with my grandmother... the memories go on and on. :) I hope that my son has those types of memories too!
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10-18-2007 @11:24AM Julie said... I have so many good food memories that I created a whole blog just for that reason here is just one of many: http://noshtalgia.blogspot.com/2007/01/sfingi-little-italian-doughnuts.html
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