Honey, Honey

My daughter recently sent this photo from Secret to Humor is Surprise* to my son. It brought back some funny memories.

You see, when my kids were little, they were a little squeamish about eating the spots on the banana that have gotten a bit over-ripe. Being a really good (and really smart) mom, I told them they were honey spots and, since all children love honey--who wouldn't after watching an episode or thirty dozen of Winnie the Pooh?--they ate those bananas right up. 

This little white lie meant I could buy the cheaper bananas and even leave them sitting on the counter for awhile without worrying about them getting too squishy. The squishier, the more honey**! I couldn't lose!

I don't remember how old my kids were when they finally discovered the truth about bananas but they were old enough to shoot me looks of pure disappointment at the fact that their beloved mother had deceived them. Bananas are not really a source of honey. 

More importantly, they learned that moms don't always tell the truth. It was a dark day in the Morrow household. Some of them may still hold a grudge--I'm pretty sure T.J does. 

For my part though, I have no regrets. I would do it again in a heartbeat. And that's one of the things that makes me a great mom!

Have you ever deceived your kids for their own good?

*While this page on Facebook has some truly funny stuff, much of it is inappropriate or as they say on the Interwebs, Not Suitable for Work. Read at your own peril.

**Have no fear, my children were never in any danger of bodily harm. A bubbling banana was thrown away--all others were fair game for snacks or baking.

 Exactly Two Years Ago: Invited to a Ball

I Cook for Handkerchiefs

Last weekend, Mary at Owlhaven, in doing a giveaway, asked what people first remembered cooking. 

I don't remember what the first thing I ever cooked was. I remember being really young and cooking with my grandma who had, of all things, wall to wall carpeting--including the kitchen. One time I was visiitng her and we were cooking something--probably a cake--when I dropped a raw egg on to the floor. Boy, was she angry!! 

But, the memory I wanted to share with you took place in India. We had just moved to a new city and while we looked for housing, all of us stayed in this hostel. It was one large room that all eight of us stayed in, and there was a large bathroom/dressing room. We used the dressing room to cook in. We didn't' have a whole lot to do and so, probably for this reason, my mom had me start doing a lot of the cooking. I was eleven years old. She asked me to make the menus and plan the meals. 

I've written before how I loved playing house as a child but most of my play centered around keeping the house organized. I made lists and menus and plans on paper. By the time I had gotten my family in order, I would lose interest in it and move on to another imaginary family.

When I began making menus for my family I told my mom that it was much more interesting make pretend menus. In pretend menus you can cook anything you like. In real-life menus you have to be concerned with budgets and seasons and all those mundane details. It was a really good learning experience for me.

What I remember cooking the most at this time was a soy product (TVP) that had to be rehydrated when it was cooked. They were little dry chunks that look like dried out chicken nuggets. You cook them with hot liquid--often some sort of broth to give them flavor--and they get kinda spongy. They are inexpensive and nutritious. We use this a lot here in Zambia as a staple in our menu.  You can learn more about TVP here.

Anyway, back to my memories. I don't know if soy products were new to the Indian market or if this particular company was doing a promotion, but every little box of TVP came with a handkerchief. All six of us kids would take turns getting to keep the little handkerchief. We must have eaten a ton of this soy stuff because I remember that each of us had several handkerchiefs. 

Maintaining our collections was a big deal. We could let them get all wrinkly so we learned the best way to keep our handkerchiefs looking pristine was too get them wet and then plaster them to the mirror. As they dried, they would fall off, stiff as a board but so smooth and wrinkle free. Incidentally, we did this with stamps we collected too.

I don't know what else I cooked at that time, that memory has faded, but learning to cook so young set me on a path of enjoyment in the kitchen. I'm grateful my parents trusted me to play an important role in helping out my family.

Happy Mother's Day!

That best academy, a mother's knee.
James Russell Lowell, poet, critic and diplomat

The other day, as I was making homemade cream cheese, I began to think of my mom and a little dish she used to make for us when I was around 7 years old.

We lived in Mexico at the time; camping out because housing through my dad's job had fallen through. All six of us kids, plus our parents, lived in a tent and a van. It was a fair drive outside of town where my dad worked teaching English. Occasionally, when my dad brought fresh milk home, it would spoil and sour.

My mom would take that sour milk, which many people would deem unusable, and boil it up. The heat would cause the curds to separate from the whey and after straining the milk and collecting the curds, my mom would add honey (and perhaps a bit of lemon?) creating this wonderful little dessert. We loved it so much that we would clamour around my dad when he returned from home begging to know if perhaps the milk had spoiled again.

This has always been one of my favorite memories, but recently it came to mean more to me. As I got older, I learned that my mom doesn't really even enjoy cooking. She'll do it, but she doesn't feel confident in the kitchen and she'd rather not cook if she can avoid it. The fact that she would create this wonderful dish out of seeming defeat is that much more amazing to me.

I feel like this sums up my mom so wonderfully. She is one of the sweetest and most positive people I know. She doesn't just take life's lemons and make lemonade, she takes soured milk and makes cheese 'n' honey delight. And I'm not just saying that because she's my mom and I owe her my life. Anyone who knows her would back me up. She has always striven to put a bright and cheerful face on whatever she goes through and I admire and love her for that.

My mom and I last April

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

I love you!

Exactly One Year Ago: Doncha Hate When This Happens?

A Favorite Halloween Memory

When we made the decision in 1998 to become missionaries to Africa we felt sure the process would go quickly. For this reason, in October 1999 we were sure that this would be our last Halloween ever! (Insert ominous music here)

Tom has always been very creative and given the fact that we had six children at our disposal he decided to do a Wizard of Oz theme. All the costumes were adapted or created by Tom from thrift store acquisitions. He did a fantastic job as you can see.

Tom made T.J's Tinman costume from scratch. The only problem with it was he forgot to create joints. Every time T.J lost his balance while out trick or treating, he fell headfirst and couldn't get back up again. I think this ranks as one of his worst memories.

I was particularly happy with the Scarecrow costume. It turned out so well just from scraps of old clothes.

Not everyone was thrilled with the costuming process. Troy (2 and a half at this time) was very unhappy and absolutely refused to wear the headdress for his Cowardly Lion costume. 

We paid a lot of attention to the little details such as hair braiding. I was determined to create the exact same hairstyle as the original Dorothy.

We didn't want to have a bad character so Jessica was Glenda the Good Witch.

Dorothy (Jennifer) with her TinMan (T.J) and Scarecrow (Timothy) and a Munchkin Ballerina (Jasmine).

While we went on to have two more Halloweens in the U.S before moving to Africa and we haven't let living in the African bush stop us from having a costume party every October, I'm so glad we have the memories of Halloween, 1999.

This post is written as an entry for a Camera contest on SITS (Secret is in the Sauce) a fantastic community with great blogging tips.