Remember Jello?

Hi Halzey,

Remember Jello-jigglers? Is this a custom mothers still practice? There was a birthday-party game involving these precious cutouts of slime and a blindfold. Shudder.

Piggy's in a blanket? (Think hot dog wiener meets pastry) Macaroni Goulash? (I'm not even sure how to spell that--along with many other words, you're likely thinking) Rice de Bri? (Dutch for rice pudding).

I suppose our family, like most, had it's quirky traditions and favourites. Like hamburger Friday--VERY exciting--and Sunday-night ice-cream, which had to be scooped into a glass dessert bowl NOT a correlle cereal bowl. (Mom's method of portion-size control).

Then there are those treats and dishes that were beloved and are now missed, like Joan's chocolate-chip squares; Grandma's no-bake cheese cake with a graham-cracker crust, topped with cherry-pie filling; cornflake chicken; or coffee cake with the full-streusel topping (slowly over the years the volume of streusel sitting atop the cake depleted until only a thin dusting of cinnamon remained. Chalk it up to the nineties health-kick).

J and I took a walk on Dallas last week. (For non-Victorians: the road that runs parallel to the Pacific with a view of the snow-capped Olympic mountains. Yes, I'm bragging). It was then she suggested that our tastes might be linked to emotion and governed by our memories of past experiences. She recalled Sunday doughnut stops with her family and admitted she still adores Tim Hortons. I recalled C's infatuation with the doughnut and his love of Seattle's Top Pot.

I have my own fond memories of doughnuts: after the yearly Christmas concert Mom would have a box waiting downstairs in the cool laundry room. Carmen and I would run down to get it, first peeking beneath the lid at the snug rows of shiny doughnuts.

This wander down memory lane is leading toward a proposition: that we revisit our childhood foods by compiling a list of favourites foods and a list of strange foods we enjoyed in our past. We will then recreate the dishes either by following the original recipe, if it still exists, or re-interpreting the original for an up-to-date take.

Send me some of your fav.'s

Lovingly,
R.