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Posts Tagged ‘memories’

The Good Old Days,

I have wonderful memories of people and food. Did you ever receive an invitation to bring a casserole and a dessert and come for dinner? Depending on which country we were in, it was called Pot-Luck dinner, Bung Tea, Fellowship dinner/lunch.

All sorts of food would turn up, and everyone would have a little of everything and there was always laughter and good fun for everyone, even the children.

You could guarantee that someone would bring a good old trifle every time. And there was always a meat and vegetable casserole. And a sweet-and-sour something… Ah, happy memories. People are too busy to do this any more. It’s such a shame. Many times over the last few years I’ve tried to organize something like this, but this person can’t come on a week night, and this person works weekends. This night is out because of… and so on. I’ve stopped trying.

So I have to be content with our family get togethers. When everyone is here, we have 10 adults and 6 children. Everyone pitches in and brings something, either food or drinks. And it’s great fun!

When we have a family ‘do’ now, everyone expects my daughter-in-law to make her French Onion Potato Bake, and the menu is created around the expectation that she will make this for us. One time when we had a family meal, she offer to bring something, and I said ‘Your potato bake, please.’ She laughed and replied, ‘Are you sure? I can cook other things, you know.’ So I thought today I would share her recipe with you all.

Potato BakeFrench Onion Potato Bake

300 ml cream

1 x 25g pkt French Onion Soup

6 Large potatoes

Method

Peel Potatoes and slice into thin rounds. Layer in a lightly greased baking dish.

Mix cream and soup together in a jug and pour over the potatoes.

Cover with foil and bake 40 minutes 180c

After 40 minutes, remove foil and bake 15 minutes.

I’m sure you will enjoy this as much as we do :)

DJ

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The other day I found a note. The paper was folded many times and the edges were old and bit a tattered. I carefully unfolded it and began to read. It was written by one of my daughters many years ago and I was reminded how something so little – like writing a note – can bring so much joy.

It brought to mind the time I was rostered on to help make the school lunches at the canteen. Once a week I would turn up on a particular day and we would make umpteen salad rolls and sandwiches, and put dozens of pies and sausage rolls on to heat. It was always with a sense of anticipation that I searched through all the lunch orders for the one with my daughter’s name on it. Her orders were never just the regular ‘salad roll’. Instead it would read something like, ‘Most gracious, indulgent, loving, patient mother in the world, your most darlingest daughter desires a bread roll cut in half with a faint scraping of butter on both sides, followed by a slice of tomato on a sprinkling of shredded lettuce. This would be nice topped with a smattering of grated cheese and carrot. A slice of ham will do nicely on top of the vegetables…’ And of course I would reply by writing all over the wrapping of her salad roll, ‘Most darlingest daughter – please find encased beneath this wrapper…’ Once she wrote a rhyming poem that had the whole canteen in stitches of laughter. And one day, her teacher asked for the lunch wrapper so that she could photo copy my reply.

They were fun days – and memory creators. It’s never too late to create memories for those you love.

DJ

(c) DJ Stutley 2012

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I am thrilled to know that we are going to be grandparents again :)

We have 4 grandchildren now, aged 4 and under, with one due in September and another due next year. I love being a Grandma – but I often wonder what the role and responsibility of being a grandparent is. Surely there more to it than being a babysitter, sneaking lollies to the little ones, cutting off the bread crusts while their mother is not looking, letting them watch cartoons, reading them bedtime stories…

You see, I grew up with no grandparents around, and my children grew up having little contact with grandparents. So I don’t have a role-model to follow. I don’t even have any memories to fall back on.

So it is up to me to create good ‘Grandma’ memories for my grandchildren and my children. My attitude towards them and the things I do with them now will be what they remember. It’s a huge responsibility and I am happy to receive advice.

If you’re a grandparent and have advice for me, please pass on your thoughts.

DJ

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