Mama is sort of like Mary Poppins, without the umbrella and carpetbag. She always has a way of turning the most mundane, everyday situations into fun, by changing the name. What you name something matters, especially to a child. The right name sets the tone and can turn something yucky into something tasty or something worrisome into something fun.
Mama prepared three meals a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Multiply that by 7 family members, 4 cousins, and various friends and neighbors over a period of years and years and you can begin to gauge the mammoth task she faced. Eating out was not an option. To us, eating out meant that we were camping and Mama still cooked dinner. The task required a strong will, determination, a large dose of creativity.
She always woke up before the rest of the family to brew a pot of coffee and hopefully drink one cup before the day started. Then, she tackled breakfast. On cool mornings she might make a big pot of oatmeal or cream of wheat, a cinnamon coffee cake, or buttermilk biscuits. On a warm summer morning, we might have cereal and milk or cinnamon toast. Sometimes she made blueberry muffins, french toast, pancakes, or waffles. We ate normal breakfasts like everyone else. That changed early one morning when my cousin Byron thought Mama was making pancakes for breakfast. In a small, sleepy voice he pleaded, "Aunt Nancy, I don't like pancakes." Hesitation and uncertainty cause many schemes to fail, but Mama never hesitated. She looked him in the eyes and cheerfully replied, "We are not having pancakes, we are having Bugieboos." That was good, because Byron liked Bugieboos, or was too confused to put up a fuss. To make Bugieboos you start with pancake batter. Next, you heat up the pan and add a little bit of oil for frying. I know it sounds a lot like pancakes, but the difference is in the technique. Instead of making little round circles of pancakes, you drizzle the batter in ever-changing directions to make crazy designs in the pan. It is like modern art only with pancake batter and an iron skillet. Top the Bugieboo with butter and syrup and magically, breakfast for Byron. If you have ever watched clouds overhead on a summer day and said, "That one looks like Mickey Mouse or that one looks like a dog." then you can imagine our conversation at the breakfast table while eating Bugieboos. From that day forward, pancakes ceased to exist and Bugieboos ruled the world.
The problem with lunch is that it seems to arrive just as you finish the breakfast dishes. Mama had a lot of good ideas for lunch. On cool days we might have Campbell's Tomato Soup with a grilled cheese sandwich or cheese toast. One of my favorites was Franco American Spaghettios with wieners sliced up in it. In the summertime, we would have a sandwich and potato chips. Sometimes we had bologna, or pineapple and mayonnaise, or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Other times she made chicken salad, ham salad, roast beef salad, or egg salad, depending on the available leftovers. One afternoon Mama made a big bowl of egg salad for sandwiches. My little brother, Wade, stated his preference. "I don't like egg salad sandwiches." It just so happened that Mama needed to use up the rest of the hot dog buns. So, in her usual, confident manner she, answered, "We're not having egg salad sandwiches, we're having Polish Egg Rolls." To make Polish Egg Rolls, you put mayonnaise on a hot dog bun and fill it with egg salad. Wade said that he loved Polish Egg rolls. So, a new household specialty was born. Egg salad sandwiches were banished in favor of Polish Egg Rolls.
With so many mouths to feed sometimes, food ran low, just before Daddy got paid. We didn't realize why, but suddenly the refrigerator had more room and the cabinets were not crowded with cans or boxes. That's when Mama displayed her best tricks in the kitchen. She would wash up the supper dishes and come into the living room to relax with the family, with a little smile on her face. A short time later, we would smell something wonderful coming from the kitchen. With a clever blend of thriftiness and imagination, mama turned the leftover rice, the rest of the milk, one egg, and the last of raisins into rice pudding with sprinkles of nutmeg on top. The final cup of flour, the remaining sugar, the rest of the milk, and a can of peaches became a peach cobbler. She would make banana bread, pumpkin bread, cinnamon rolls, or Wacky Chocolate Cake using whatever odds and ends of food were still in the house.
Every artist has a masterpiece that exemplifies and commemorates their best work and Mama has hers. We didn't realize it at the time, but on this particular summer day, groceries were running low. As soon as Daddy's check came in the mail, Mama was ready for us to take the check to the bank and then buy groceries at the local A&P. Lunchtime came before the mailman arrived and Mama had to come up with a plan to feed five hungry children in a hurry. As a result, the Mini-Haha Lunch was born. Simply put, a Mini-Haha Lunch consists of whatever you have in the house that is quick and easily available: saltines, peanut butter, jam, canned fruit, or baby food. The baby's food was ordinarily reserved for the baby, except for the occasional Mini-Haha lunch. Back in those days, Gerber put sugar in the baby food, so it was very tasty. My favorites were the baby apricots, the vanilla pudding, and the teething biscuits. Mini-Haha lunches, or dinners, became a family favorite and the tradition has continued with my own children. Last week, AJ was surprised to learn that the rest of the world did not know about Mini-Haha meals. Now they know.
No comments:
Post a Comment