Kick-Off

I grew up in the country of upstate NY, way upstate, the point where the Thruway exits are about an hour apart. Somewhere off that highway is where I grew up, feeding half melted-cherry Popsicles to deer (yup the animal) and stealing pea pods from the farmers who lived next door. My parents let me run around buck naked in the yard and through the garden eating tomatoes like apples, because that was cool to do back then and there was no one to around to watch.  Thank goodness for that.

Food has always been there for me and played as central role in my life since as early as I can remember. Every significant milestone, family gathering and celebration you can count on food taking center stage. I can tie back almost every significant memory in life back to it, thanks to the smells, sights and sounds. The memories make me feel comforted at times, laugh or cry at others. My goal is write all of it down - past, present and future, the good the bad and the ugly. Let me kick it off with a list of my top 3 favorite food memories.

1. Meatballs Cracklin' on Sunday Mornings: Almost every Sunday from the ages of 5-17, the smell of garlic and meat wafts upstairs to my room. Every time the smell met my nose I walked downstairs and took a seat at the kitchen table, finished my homework and let the fumes take over. The fumes take over to the point where I can't take it anymore and then boom, a meatball is ready to eat (finally). Mom always handed one hot one over to me in a paper-towel to try....oh and if I'm awake pre-meatball rolling phase, I'm sent to the garden to pick some parsley (the older I get, the more likely I am sleeping for this part).

2. Sugar Daddy's at Summer Camp: I have the freedom of no parents, no one watching my sugar intake or making sure I drink the organic apple juice. I am 12 and damn skinny, I run everywhere and in this case I run to canteen with the quarters I scratched up, out of the bottom of my bag. It is like freedom and the Sugar Daddy is my ticket. It melts slowly, comes on a stick, gets caught in your teeth for 2 days and tastes like caramelized sugary goodness.

3. Apple Pie's (pre-oven bake) at Nonni's: This one if for all the years of my life. I sit at the counter in my Nonni's kitchen where she pre-heats her 3 ovens. Apples are being sliced quickly by hand and thrown in an industrial sized bowl mixed with sugar and cinnamon. The crust gets worked out with her hands which are paper thin and burned. I drink milk and sneak out some of the cinnamon-sugar apples from the bowl. Sometimes I get limited instructions to wash my hands and help out. Mostly, we talk about life. Sometimes she seems really sad and then I get her talking about her recipes, her life and her loves. I feel special during these moments, as I think she is revealing deep secrets of her heart that only I know.