Trail MixTwo years ago our family and some local friends had the privilege of providing a birthday party for our mutual friend, Jim S., who was away from his family at the time doing Army training here in Texas. We really enjoyed doing this for him at a time when he was missing his family sorely (he was just home from Iraq!).
Here I see some green salad on the left with dressing, potato salad and some juicy looking steaks. :-) I had help preparing this food, by the way! My brother, Mike, grilled the yummy steaks, and the potato salad looks like Mom's work maybe. That’s my beloved Mom and me in the background working in the kitchen. (Please note my colorful cotton apron. :-) )
Here is Jim with his ice cream birthday cake. We consulted his wife as to the best kind of cake for him and she suggested this. We got it at Coldstone, which is now closed here, so it was a once only occasion!
Here is my husband, Peter, cutting the cake for us with a little help from Mom! It was quite a job.
What a great evening to remember! :-) Good food, good friends and good fellowship is a great combination!
Food plays a very important role in our memories of life. A simple food or meal can have such strong associations for us that we love it (or maybe hate it) just because of the memory attached to it. Sometimes we remember specific meals because they were particularly special or memorable in some way.
Here is a meal that I remember fondly. It was the feast that my brother, Mike, and his wife made for us when we arrived in Texas from Tennessee. They also invited some of our friends who had helped with the moving process and my sister-in-law’s parents. It was absolutely delectable!
It isn’t hard to see what we had. In the packet on the right I think there was zucchini and possibly onions, otherwise the rest is pretty self-evident. :-)
Who knew there was actually a National Watermelon Day? Isn’t that great? I guess it is for us watermelon fans. I thought I’d post a picture of the first watermelon we grew in Texas. We enjoyed it in July. As you can see from the picture, it was a “sugar baby” variety. It was very good, but there was barely enough for six people to taste! :-)
My grandmothers thought that watermelon was one of the finer foods. They both loved it! I liked it pretty well when I was younger, but I didn’t quite understand their great liking for it. One summer a few years back I suddenly discovered that I also had a strong craving for watermelon. I think I probably enjoy it now almost as much as they did! Funny how as we get older we understand our grandmothers’ and mothers’ feelings about some things more and more. :-) I’m thankful God created this amazing, juicy fruit that can be grown in such hot climates! :-) I’m also very thankful that we have not had such a bad drought this year and have been able to grow a much better garden!
