Handing Down Simple Gifts Of Love
July 2, 2008 by kadi
Filed under Simple Pleasures
There are very few things that I enjoy doing as much as eating and cooking Sunday dinner. I am blessed to have many family members who can make every meal taste gourmet, even though it probably came from a simple recipe. We are all gifted with the talent of cooking, but the greatest of these was my great grandmother, Irene Schleicher. My great grandmother was the owner of a restaurant and a catering business and boy could she cook! Her greatest gift to the grand kids (besides setting a shining example of what a true Christian walk is,) was teaching us her cooking secrets. Luckily, I got some of those secrets handed down to me, before she went to Heaven. Great grandma believed in everything homemade. Yes, it took more time, but “that just gives you more time to talk to God, while you work,” according to her.
She never used recipes. Progress was marked by the look, the feel or the flavor of the dish. Getting her to write down her recipes was no easy task. How does “knead the dough until it feels right,” translate into an amount of time? Well, if you had the pleasure of being in the kitchen when she cooked, you would know exactly how it should feel. She always called us over to learn how to make the perfect pie crust, or mouth watering rolls. There was never a store bought package of dough in her fridge…ever. Breakfast always consisted of homemade biscuits and sausage gravy, homemade jam, farm fresh eggs and squeezed orange juice. Cooking was not just her job, it was her passion. It was her gift from God and she joyfully shared it with others.
She cooked for all of the families in her church. She brought rolls to the ill or handicapped, every Sunday. She always fed the hometown vagrants a good hearty breakfast. Granted, they were only allowed in to the house if they were sober and they had to bow their heads in prayer, but all were welcomed at her table. Her meals delivered so much more than nutrition. They fed people love. Everything she made, was made with love. She cooked for other people, right up until her last year of life. I’m sure that she is in Heaven, making biscuits and gravy for the angels and teaching them how to knead the dough until it feels right. I feel so blessed to be her descendant and honored that she chose to bestow upon me, her love and knowledge of cooking.
Kadi-THAT is exactly what I want MY grandkids to say about me someday. What a great inheritance you have!
That is so beautiful! What a heartwarming post!