Fond Memories with Mom and #Beef
As a foodie, I don’t write about my mishaps in the kitchen, instead what you read are tried and true recipes or finger licking good pinterest-worthy pictures. Despite my polished, and I use that term loosely, foodie persona what goes on behind the scenes isn’t always a stellar kitchen performance. I’ve had flopped souflés, burnt cakes, under-cooked steak and over-spiced experiments.
When I was a young girl my family often had family get-together’s on holidays and Sundays with a mouth-watering roast dinner and all the fixings, including made-from-scratch Yorkshire pudding. My parents were shift-workers in the health and emergency service industries and were often unable to cook together, in fact my dad usually made our meals because my mom worked most evenings as a nurse. My dad became quite the cook and I suppose that is how my love for food began. My mom on the other hand, burned our meals more often than not leaving the taste something to be desired; baking was really her forté however she had the odd shining moment and with those came lasting memories.
On one such memorable Sunday dinner, my mom and dad happened to be home together from work and we were all excited to enjoy a nice dinner together as a family. I remember it clearly as a cold fall day when my uncle arrived with his fiancé; on this special visit I was extra excited because he had brought along his dog, a German Sheppard in it’s adolescence. My mom had spent the day preparing the roast beef meal, one I could tell she was proud of. She opened the oven to a perfectly cooked and seasoned glistening roast, placed it on the cutting board awaiting my dad to slice it with his fancy electric knife; she only turned her back for a second, or so she recalls, and upon returning her sights to her delicious slab of beef, her eyes fell on the most horrific motion picture. You see a puppy of good size had been forgotten to be put outside and with a good nose and appetite he had removed the roast from the counter and eaten most of it before he was caught. Knowing how amazing that roast smelled, I cannot blame him for not being able to resist temptation. I felt a little sad for my mom because I knew she had worked hard that day preparing the perfect dinner but this memory is what makes me love her more.
I have many fond memories of growing up, many involve food because they were special times I spent quality time with my mom and dad either together or individually. This disaster dinner will remain one of my favourite memories of kitchen moments with mom. Cooking memories do not have to be perfect, some mistakes turn out to be the most rewarding learning experiences.
As a foodie, this post has been written in hopes of being chosen for a scholarship from Canadian Beef to attend the Eat Write Retreat conference in Philadelphia, PA. What are your favourite Canadian Beef recipes?