I want to do a shout-out to Evelyn, Rick's mom, even though she won't see it. She is 94 years old today and still going strong. She still cooks dinner, she cleans the house as best she can (they have a cleaning woman who comes in once a week), she still goes for groceries and still enjoys shopping with us. She still takes her wet laundry outside (and down a hill) to hang on the clothesline. It just takes her longer to get around than it used to. And we have to be careful with her as she falls easily. She has finally decided that it's OK to use her walker, even in (gasp!) public!
She'll spend an afternoon shopping with us and then go with us to dinner. She still plays Bridge every Thursday afternoon. She reads everything she can get her hands on and the library's bookmobile stops at the house every week with an armload of books for her. When I go to the library, I also pick up a couple books to supplement what she gets from the bookmobile. I have a list of her favorite authors and, as soon as a new book comes out, I get her on the reserved list at the library.
Rick's mom taught me everything I know about cooking and baking. She is the best cook in the world, as far as I'm concerned. She can bake anything and still makes sticky rolls, apple pies, cookies, angel food cakes from scratch, anything. As she says, "It just takes me a little longer than it used to". We had to move in with Rick's parents after Hurricane Agnes in 1972 when we lost everything in the flood. After the guys would leave for work, she would say, "We're going to make bread today" or "We're going to make an apple pie this morning". And we did it. And did it. And did it again until I got it right. The woman has the patience of a saint; she needed it when she decided to take me under her cooking wing. We stayed with them for about four months after the flood until we could get into a HUD trailer and then we eventually built our first house. During that time, she and I went through cookbook after cookbook, trying this recipe, doing it that way and then this way. Getting a "Pam, this is delicious!" from my MIL is high praise!
Usually she'll tell me what she wants for her birthday dinner. One year, it might be a dinner with every course from Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, recipes. One time, I did everything from Cook's Country. One time, it was a Neeley's dinner. This year, we told her that we'll take her out for dinner at the end of the month, after we get everything done outside and after we get back from Vermont. She seemed a little disappointed that we mentioned going out for dinner instead of me cooking, though, so I might go through some of my cookbooks and see if I can work something up special for her. She enjoys going out for dinner, but she also likes to sit in the kitchen and chat with me while I'm making dinner. We talk about all kinds of stuff. Sometimes I'll put her to work peeling vegetables or something, just because I know she enjoys prepping.
I love that woman dearly.
ETA: Well, she no longer makes everything from scratch. One time a couple years ago, Rick's parents came down for dinner. My sister and BIL were there, too, as well as some friends. I had made something (I forget what....some kind of pie). She said to me that she could tell it was homemade pie dough. I looked at her and said, "You really think I could serve you Pillsbury pie dough? Really? You?"
Evelyn started laughing. "Oh, pooh! I've been using Pillsbury now for over a year!" I was shocked. Just shocked. Everybody looked at me and started laughing. Evelyn had tears, she was laughing so hard at me. And I just sat there sputtering. But I couldn't believe that my MIL used Pillsbury.
And well, by golly, if my MIL can use Pillsbury, so can I!
Rick's mom taught me everything I know about cooking and baking. She is the best cook in the world, as far as I'm concerned. She can bake anything and still makes sticky rolls, apple pies, cookies, angel food cakes from scratch, anything. As she says, "It just takes me a little longer than it used to". We had to move in with Rick's parents after Hurricane Agnes in 1972 when we lost everything in the flood. After the guys would leave for work, she would say, "We're going to make bread today" or "We're going to make an apple pie this morning". And we did it. And did it. And did it again until I got it right. The woman has the patience of a saint; she needed it when she decided to take me under her cooking wing. We stayed with them for about four months after the flood until we could get into a HUD trailer and then we eventually built our first house. During that time, she and I went through cookbook after cookbook, trying this recipe, doing it that way and then this way. Getting a "Pam, this is delicious!" from my MIL is high praise!
Usually she'll tell me what she wants for her birthday dinner. One year, it might be a dinner with every course from Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, recipes. One time, I did everything from Cook's Country. One time, it was a Neeley's dinner. This year, we told her that we'll take her out for dinner at the end of the month, after we get everything done outside and after we get back from Vermont. She seemed a little disappointed that we mentioned going out for dinner instead of me cooking, though, so I might go through some of my cookbooks and see if I can work something up special for her. She enjoys going out for dinner, but she also likes to sit in the kitchen and chat with me while I'm making dinner. We talk about all kinds of stuff. Sometimes I'll put her to work peeling vegetables or something, just because I know she enjoys prepping.
I love that woman dearly.
ETA: Well, she no longer makes everything from scratch. One time a couple years ago, Rick's parents came down for dinner. My sister and BIL were there, too, as well as some friends. I had made something (I forget what....some kind of pie). She said to me that she could tell it was homemade pie dough. I looked at her and said, "You really think I could serve you Pillsbury pie dough? Really? You?"
Evelyn started laughing. "Oh, pooh! I've been using Pillsbury now for over a year!" I was shocked. Just shocked. Everybody looked at me and started laughing. Evelyn had tears, she was laughing so hard at me. And I just sat there sputtering. But I couldn't believe that my MIL used Pillsbury.
And well, by golly, if my MIL can use Pillsbury, so can I!
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