I.
Today I made a dessert that my grandmother used to make for me all the time. I would beg her for it and she would act like it was the such a big deal and a special treat. In fact, it’s like that commercial where the mom fakes slaving over a hot stove for hours to make Rice Krispie treats. Except even easier. Here are the instructions: 1. Open container of Cool Whip. 2. Open two containers of fruit-flavored yogurt. 3. Mix together. 4. Dump into graham cracker crust (pre-fab, of course). 5. Freeze.
My grandma was the best. Besides handing down that recipe to the next generation, she taught me how to play at least four different kinds of solitaire.
II.
Remember when I wrote about my dad going to a pre-funeral for his friend? An awake wake? Turns out the guy does not have a terminal disease after all. Misdiagnosis! He still had the party, and he played a trombone trio (an original piece composed for the event) with his son and granddaughter.
III.
Sale on Wooster St. Meat t-shirts! I got Jeff the prosciutto one for Christmas, because instead of a recipe for pie made out of non-food items, his ancestors actually taught him how to cure meat. His great-uncle was a butcher, and he always had meat, in various stages of curedness, hanging from nails in his basement. He explained the whole process to Jeff (surprise: there is a lot of salt involved). In New Jersey, we lived in a small condo building with a garage on the ground floor; each unit had a small storage room adjacent to its parking space. It was windowless and fairly cool so Jeff tried to make some prosciutto (the family actually called it lonza) in there.
That didn’t work out so well. It was a sad day when, a few months after Uncle Gene’s death, the last of the homemade meats ran out. Gene is pictured above with a baby Jo. Can you tell how immense his hands were? Long after he retired (he and his wife owned a small butcher shop/grocery), he still butchered deer for hunters and made his own sausage in his fully equipped basement kitchen, featuring the largest, thickest, heaviest-looking butcher’s block I have ever seen.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Great memories! And I’m glad that the trombone-playing friend is not ill after all – wow, what a perspective changing couple of months that must have been.
You know what they say about really big hands…….really big gloves.
What great news for your dad’s friend. Good for him for having the party anyway. We might as well celebrate while we’re here!
I’m so going to have a pre-funeral for myself.
My MIL makes that same pie! And my kids love it.
I love that your dad’s friend still had an awake wake. What a great concept.
What great memories!
So now that you live in the spacious midwest, is he going to try more meat curing? Maybe he needs that Ruhlman book: Charcuterie (http://www.amazon.com/Charcuterie-Craft-Salting-Smoking-Curing/dp/0393058298)
And that’s pretty wild about your father’s friend – and wonderful too.
How horrible is 2? I mean, it’s great he’s not dying, but to already set up his funeral and then be all whoops? At least he seems to have taken it in stride.
Wow – I can’t imagine curing meat in the basement!
My grandmother always made the simplest dessert, too: fresh fruit with vanilla ice cream. I inherited the little dishes she served it in. So simple, but to this day, my favorite summer dessert. Cool whip could work, too!
I’m so glad your dad’s friend is ok! Wow. That’s amazing.
I love how no. 2 turned into a Huck Finn kind of moment. What happy news.
Thanks for the heads up on the Wooster St. Meat shirts! I was looking for the perfect gift for an uncle, and you found it.