Is there one person in your teen years who really changed the course of your life by something they said or did? ~Family History Tuesday~

My mom never liked cooking.  She did it because she understood and took that responsibility to feed her family seriously.

I understand now that her dislike for cooking kept her from having any patience with us in the kitchen.  It was easier and faster for her to just do everything herself than to try and teach us.

One afternoon, my mom had invited some guests over to eat with us.  She called me in to the kitchen to cut up a tomato for a salad.  It was a task I had never really completed.  My Mom would usually call us in to help her because the guests were already there and she had fallen behind. It probably didn't help that we had the smallest kitchen ever in our home. Two people felt crowded in there. 

I reluctantly took the knife she handed me and tried to cut the tomato without smushing it with every slice I made.  It wasn't working too well.  My mom caught a glimpse of what I was doing and raised her voice to me asking "Don't you know how to cut a tomato?"

This immediately unnerved me and I stopped cutting just as one of the guests, Milagros, stepped in the kitchen.  I'm sure she saw my exasperated look and caught my mom's tone in the question she had just asked me.

Milagros calmly asked my mom to be more patient and then said that even though I may not be good at this right now, one day I would and that she was sure there were a lot of other things I was good at. Then she stood next to me as she took the time explain to me how to cut the tomato for a salad.

Milagros' comments that day did have a great affect on me. As any teenager I was hyper aware of all my faults. Her words that day helped me realize that even though I may not be good at something right now, some day I would be.  And even if I wasn't good at something, there were other things I was definitely good at.

Thank you Milagros! Today I am a good tomato cutter. No more smushing!

veggiegardener.com

{Family History Tuesday prompt found at designzbydede}

Share a memorable family recipe ~Family History Tuesday~

Cooking is not my thing. I keep no recipes.

Once my good friend, who is a smart chef, tried to get me excited about cooking.  As a Christmas gift she made me this decorated binder and put all her favorite recipes in it.  We even spent one evening cooking one of the recipes. 

It didn't work.  I still have no desire. I still keep the binder though.  She put a lot of work and love into that gift.

So, the only recipe I can ever remember wanting to try was probably way back in 1997. Someone in my apartment complex was passing around a "stolen" recipe.  It was Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies. Doesn't that just sound yummy?  I actually made it several times that month. Then like the binder, it probably hangs around somewhere ...not known to me.

{from The Dinner Files}

P.S.
if you want to know what my last attempt at following a recipe was read eggs II.




{Family History Tuesday prompts found at designzbydede}