Mimi and Duff

Here are my parent's on their wedding day. They were married at Sacred Heart Parish in Newton Centre, Mass. on a beautiful day in early September. The wedding reception was held at Longfellow's Wayside Inn in Sudbury. The Maid of Honor is my mother's cousin Ann, my Aunt Louise's daughter. Though my mother looks nervous in the earlier photos, you can see how delighted she is to be marrying my dad in the photo where they are dancing. Note Duff's 5:00 shadow, something he was always self-conscious about. In those days men were always supposed to be clean shaven. Though my dad always shaved before he went out at night, since it was his wedding day, he may not have had time for a second shave.

My mother was a fabulous story teller. She was also a very expressive writer. She had a lot of energy, interests and opinions.  Sitting still and writing things down was not one of her strengths. I had offered to set up a blog to help her get started writing down some of her memories. Of course, like my mother, I was never able to get around to it. In my defense, I never understood why Mimi  needed an official blog to write her stories down. In any event, here we are. It's now up to me to do the writing.

We were a very close family. My mother and I spent a lot of time together over the years (some would say too much, and I'm included in that some).

Though my mother's not physically here to help me with  my blog, doing all the things a mother likes to do -- taking over, correcting my posts, telling me I'm posting the wrong recipes, etc -- writing about things my mother taught me about cooking and life in general makes it feel, at least for a moment, that my mother's still here with me...just like she always was. And that makes me smile.

Days of punch and casseroles





Here's a photo from what looks to be Thanksgiving. I'm the one about to drink the scary looking punch. As you can see the photo was taken back before Red Dye #2 food recalls. My Dad is standing at the other end of the table, wearing glasses. We are having dinner with our neighbors who lived across the street from us. 

Dinner was always in the dining room whenever we had company

I think it's Thanksgiving because there's a turkey down at the other end of the table. With the exception of Thanksgiving, when we sat in the dining room for dinner, we usually had lamb, ham, or roast beef. Other clues...the little gravy tureen in the foreground, which sits next to a dish of cranberry sauce which is shaped like a can (my favorite since I'm not a big meat eater). There's also a centerpiece which includes a large plate of nuts with nutcrackers, something we only had on Thanksgiving.

 

Don't be fooled by the unappetizing appearance of the casseroles. My mother was a wonderful cook who loved to entertain. Here's one of her favorite casserole recipes, originally from James Beard. Be sure to add water chestnuts.

 

Mushroom Barley Casserole

• 1 1/2 C pearl barley
• 3/4 C butter
• 1/2 # firm mushrooms
• 2 medium onions chopped fine
• 3 C chicken stock

Melt 4 T butten in a skillet and saute mushrooms for 4 minutes. Remove and set aside. Melt remaining butter and saute onions till soft and wilted. Add barley and stir over medium heat until barley is beautiful brown (this is important..improves flavor and texture).

 

Saute the barley until it turns a beautiful brown for improved flavor and texture

Return mushrooms to pan and mix well with barley. Place in 2 quart casserole and add 1 1/2 C chicken stock. Cover and cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes - add rest of chicken stock and cook another 30 minutes. Add 1/4 cup sliced celery or water chestnuts, 1/2 cup slivered almonds (without skins) and serve.

Notes: To use less butter, saute mushrooms in 4 T of butter and saute onions in 2 T olive oil.