blogger buddy...

I had such a great time yesterday with Stephanie from Creaturebug.  We met for coffee first, then headed over to my house.  She brought along her beautiful daughter, Sydney.  We spent so much time just talking.  Steph is the sweetest, nicest person you could hope to meet. I felt like I had known her for years.   Sydney was absolutely perfectly well-behaved, amusing herself and not fussing at all.  And she has the most gorgeous blue eyes.  My online friends are very dear to me.  Maybe I'll meet more of you, someday...

Steph also tagged me with this prompt:

"Name five foods, dishes or otherwise, that were a part of your childhood, and that you sometimes miss when nostalgia gets to you..."

Mmmmm...I'll try....

1. boterkoek:  Dutch buttercookie.  My parents are Dutch and my mom cooked all sorts of yummy Dutch goodies.  Boterkoek is simply a mixture of almost equal parts butter, flour, and sugar, with a pinch of salt.  Simple, delicious, fattening. 
2. mocha cake:  We had a Dutch bakery truck that came to our house from the Artesia Bakery.  The driver would open up the back doors and the scents of fabulous Dutch treats poured out.  One of the things they would deliver were cakes that my mom would order for our 'Sunday treat'.  After church every Sunday morning, my mom would serve tea and cake.  All the Artesia Bakery's cakes were delicious but my favorite was the Mocha Cake.  I guess that's where I get my addiction to coffee with sugar and cream.
3. brussels sprouts:  Weird as this sounds, my mom made all sorts of vegetables including cabbage, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts.  The Dutch love to put nutmeg on vegetables and that's how my mom would serve them, with butter and nutmeg.  I just loved them.  My husband hates them and so do both of my boys.  At least Bonnie will eat them with me.  But I almost never make them because of all the crabby comments that come from John.  I do miss them, though.
4. meatball soup:  My mom made delicious soup with noodles, vegetables, and little meatballs (with nutmeg seasoning, of course).  We would season it with Maggi (which you can still buy in local grocery stores).  I make this, myself, and it always reminds me of home.
5. gravy:  We had meat and potatoes almost every night.  Not surprising, given we lived on a dairy farm and we had lockers full of meat from our cows.  My mom always made fabulous gravy that I slathered all over my potatoes.  I almost never make gravy.  We don't have beef often and I try to stay away from potatoes (too fattening).  But it was sure good!

Done.  Not too exciting but true.  I wonder what my kids would say, if asked the same thing.  Maybe I'll ask...

Comments

[Linda]

I was surprised to see a blog with the Artesia Bakery delivery truck mentioned. I too enjoyed seeing John every week for our wonderful goodies delivered to our ranch. He was quite a character.
I so miss the Bakery. I used to have stuff mailed to me now that I live in Oregon and am deprived of my Dutch cookies,cakes and cheese.
I was raised in Artesia-Cerritos-Dairy Valley and remained the area until they chased the animals out then moved to Riverside until 1991. Hope to hear from you.
Linda

[violetismycolor]

The meatballs are rolled and tossed into the soup raw, and cook in the broth. I also use green onions, carrots, pasta, green beans, and sometimes root vegetables (like parsnips) in the soup. I do use the beef maggi. And I start with beef stock.

[Arlene]

Food memories are the best. I'm with you on the brussel sprouts. I cook them in butter with a pinch of brown sugar. But I'm the only one who eats them.

[pioneer spirit]

Can't wait to try brussel sprouts with nutmeg. My whole family loves them, even the kids and they're just now coming in season. Meatball soup sounds interesting. Do you fry the meatballs first? Are there any other additions, noodles, vegies? I assume you use the Maggi beef flavor?

[isay]

i like gravy and mocha cake---uhmmmmm yummy yummy.

by the way, clicking your site from the blog site is not functioning, i just have your correct url from one of my blog where i have included you in my inspiring link(i hope you don't mind?)

[Marilyn]

Glad you got to meet Stephanie and Sydney--they both seem adorable. :)

[leslie]

One of the best features of the internet is the power to bring together people who might never have had the opportunity otherwise....^-^
Maybe we can meet during my next trip to the States....won't be until next May....from my perspective, Portland and Monroe are close neighbors!

I, too, love brussel sprouts...and did as a kid, too!!!
My favorite foods as a kid were my grandmother's vegetable soup and her apple pie...I remember as a very little girl going to Farmer's Market in San Francisco with her and my parents, and how she and my mom would spend the entire weekend making soup and pies and filling the freezer for future enjoyment.

[Margaret]

The cookies sound like shortbread--yum! It is interesting what things we love from childhood. I was a fan of polenta, my grandma's homemade mac and cheese, my great-aunt's two day ravioli and a multitude of ethnic dishes from both sides of the family. However, I never learned to make any of them; that's the pity!

[Terri]

That's funny - MY Bonnie & I are the only ones in our house that like brussel sprouts - periodically we treat ourselves to them. Never had them with nutmeg, though - we'll have to try that sometime (I do like the meatballs with nutmeg in them.)

[Stephanie]

It was so wonderful to finally meet you too! It was such a relaxing time, and I think I could have stayed and talked for a few more hours (and I'm pretty sure Sydney would have liked to take your cat home too).

I'm already looking forward to the next time we meet up!