Dear friends,
Welcome to my first post in the Inherited Kitchen! I like to start any type of communication with, Dear friends. We’re all on a journey called life and at times it can be a cruel, harsh place. (As a Mother to a preteen, I’m experiencing these joys!) We as a society need more friends, and I would like to imagine us sitting at a table, having a cup of coffee, and just laughing. Those who know me, know that I’m person who loves to laugh. My husband, Bryant, can pinpoint where I am in a building because he can hear my “booming” laugh. So here we are, sitting at a table, just conversing. You might ask, “Why start this blog, Heidi?” There are several food blogs out there, what makes yours different?”
I have always been passionate about food and family. My Instagram account is full of creations from our kitchen, our boys, and our puppy dogs. What really drives my food obsession are the stories that come from family recipes and our experiences around cooking. The women in my family have been an inspiration to me. Many recipes are passed down by memory, taught to those around them, and woven into the tapestry of our souls, but the moments are rarely recorded.
I also love cookbooks. Bryant buys one for my Birthday and one for Christmas every year. I don’t just look for recipes; I want to know the background story that inspired the Author to tell their food story. Recipes alone are one dimensional. The journey of how that recipe came into fruition is what makes it complete.
One of my favorite food writers is Eugenia Bone. She’s a food writer and critic who bought a ranch on Colorado’s Western Slope with her husband. Eugenia wrote a memoir/cookbook on her adventures of moving from NY to a ranching community of Colorado.
Bryant heard Eugenia being interviewed on NPR just before Christmas one year and bought her book as my present. I that devoured that book, At Mesa’s Edge, and loved it until it was well worn, dog-eared with stains from using it in my kitchen. Eugenia’s stories of adjusting from the streets of NY to the wilds of Colorado was honest with a dash of humor.
Several years ago, Eugenia came to Denver on a book tour. I was able to meet her and ask her to sign my book. In the process of having my book signed, she thumbed through it. She could see from its condition how much I loved and used her book. And that folks is, what life should be, well loved, dog-eared, and stained with cherry juice from canning.
So, back to this blog business. This year has been a year of grief as Bryant’s Mother, Carol passed away. She was one of the family historians. (As most Mothers are.) It became painfully obvious that we lost priceless stories and recipes. Over the past year, I’ve poured over pictures from Bryant’s family and my own. Memories pop-up of a person who made this item or used that one. For Bryant, his Great Granddaddy would make popcorn balls on a hot plate in the basement. It’s the simplest of recipes, but the memories and connections for Bryant being in the basement with his Granddaddy evokes an important family connection.
I don’t want to loose anymore of those stories. We all have them, tucked away, stored carefully next to our hearts. In our busy lives, running from one place to another we always say, “Hey, I need to write this down so I don’t forget.” Tomorrow becomes a week, a week becomes a month, and so on. By then we’ve lost our opportunity, and before we know it, we die. All that wealth of information is gone. And those who are left, are picking up the pieces. Is this how Grandma made her pie? Everything was a pinch of this or a pinch of that. Gawd, how I miss the smell of coffee and sour apples in her house. Admit it, we’ve all been there. So, the mission of this blog is to find and remember those people and stories; to record our “Inherited” kitchen. I’m here to document those people who inspired us in our day-to-day living.
Well, my friends… in closing let this be a place of joy, remembrance, and fantastic conversation. A welcoming table from the past to the present.
Sláinte,
H xoxo
*I would also like to give a credit to Bryant for editing my posts. I’m a fellow dyslexic, so please be kind with my writing. This is another subject that I’m passionate about. But that, my friends is for another time.