I miss writing so let's get this going again

I've been thinking recently that I really miss writing for fun. I write everyday for my job at Barnard College, but I realize I have so much to write about - not only what's happening in our lives today, but also about the original point of this blog - how we got to where we are today and where we're going next. So, I'm going to start up this blog again. I have a lot to say.

I've been thinking a lot about cooking recently and how proud I am that over the years I've taught myself to make a variety of dishes including Bolognese with Pici, Chinese Cashew Shrimp and Chicken, Branzino Picatta, and a seriously-seared, medium rare Filet Mignon with Scalloped Asiago Potatoes.

But my cooking roots are a lot different. I learned to cook when I was 13, because my Mommy started nursing school after earning her GED, and my Dad, who was a coal miner in Western Kentucky and worked the 3-11 shift, needed a substantial lunch for his main meal before leaving for work (the leftovers would be put into a thermos for him to eat for dinner). We didn't have a lot of money, so the meals I prepared didn't cost a lot - a can of salmon made into salmon patties, ground beef made into a meat loaf, fried Spam, fried chicken.

The sides - which I also learned to make and time to be done at the same time as the entree - were from our garden: boiled potatoes cooked in a pressure cooker, green beans, gorgeous tomatoes, sweet corn to die for, butter beans. You get it. In teaching me, my Mom at first would prep the meals so that all I had to do was cook the entree and sides. Then, the next time that I'd make that entree, she'd do one less step and give me directions for how to do that step before cooking, and then, over time, I did all the prep for each dish before cooking. It was such an easy way to learn.

When I'm missing my Dad and Mom, who've been gone 21 and eight years respectively, I make salmon patties (which I did tonight). I make one of my favorite sides (today it was Three Cheese Cauliflower) instead of boiled potatoes, and think of those years learning to cook in a little Kentucky kitchen.