Memories and Food ...

When I was driving home to Manitoba I stopped in Sault Ste. Marie to visit my cousin and his family. Before I left he handed me a bag of cookies his wife had made the previous day ... I resisted the temptation of trying any until my second day on the road ...

When I took one of the cookies and began to munch I remembered how good Cheryl's cookies were ... When I was a lowly University student living with my aunt and uncle, one of the highlights was when Cheryl came and baked her chocolate chip cookies ... They were yummy.

Driving up Hwy 17 north from the Soo - I remembered how good Cheryl's cookies have always been (I even saved some for the kids to try when I got home to Minnedosa). Then, as I drove I started doing a mental inventory of all the foods from my childhood and youth that remain important and significant in my memories ...

My mom's pies ... strawberry and rhubarb in the spring, apple and pumpkin in the fall ...

My Grandma's Christmas Fudge ... no one in the Elliot Clan can forget Grandma's Christmas fudge ... but alongside it at each Christmas was also her coconut macaroons, her mincemeat tarts and my mom's short bread cookies (Grandma's opinion of shortbreads not-with-standing) and her "nuts 'n' bolts" mix. And Auntie Lyn and Uncle Ame brought the turkey, and Aunt Ann and Uncle Walt brought the fruit and the spinach dip in a pumpernickel loaf ... the table groaned under delicious homemade food ...

Or earlier still is the memories of Grandma Cain's fresh baked scones ... that extra handful of sugar seemed to make all the difference in tastes ...

And perhaps the best memory of all for me was Grandma's Saskatoon Berry Jelly and her fresh baked ginger snaps ... Both were always rationed and savoured ...

Munching Cheryl's cookies on the way home - no, savouring them ... I remembered how important good food has been to our family gatherings over the years, and even though in that moment I realized how much I missed Grandma and Grandpa ... I also realized what tremendous memories I have to look back on ... Some of the recipes have been passed down, and they've become part of our traditions ...

But more importantly, some great memories are found around the table, both then and now ... and as we gather around the table, some foods will invoke those memories and we will have stories to share and recollections to offer. From a theological point of view, I suppose it's a form of Communion for my family. We eat and drink and we remember ... and in the Church, that's a Holy duty ... in a family perhaps it is equally Holy ...

All I can say to it is this:

Amen to that !!

(and keep the good food coming ... there are memories aplenty to be formed!!)