When I learned to cook

As a child I was a shadow with my grandma in the kitchen. If she was in the kitchen, I was in the kitchen. We had little money, and so we cooked often with what was on hand. Grandma had a small collection of cookbooks, but really, she would read a recipe and then make it with whatever she had. Sometimes it was wonderful...her stuffed green peppers were so good. Sometimes it was...not so wonderful... the lemon pie made with seriously out-of-date saccharine tablets, so it would be sugar free for my brother and my dad. Ugh. I still remember the look on my face with that first bite.

Today I started culling through clutter in the living room while watching Hoarders: Buried Alive--excellent inspiration as I deal with my own hoarding tendencies. I found in some cookbooks the following "Diet List"

Transcribed, it reads:

Oct. 2004 "A Diet List" To Mandy and Nik

The rivers eat away at the banks
The tides devour the sand.
The morning sun drinks up the mists
The ocean eats the land
Taxes eats up property
and pride eats out the soul
But moths the diet record hold
Because they eat a hole!
--a diet from Grandma K.

I'm happy to have a copy of her handwriting. It's changed over the years.

In the Busy Person's Cookbook, I found a quote: If you lose an hour in the morning, you have to hunt for it the rest of the day. -- Chinese Proverb.

My grandma has always been so full of wisdom. I love her for that.