A brother-in-law passed away recently. It was very interesting that everyone who got up and spoke about him talked about what a good cook he was. What a nice way to be remembered...feeding people the things they loved to eat. In honor of him, his grandchildren and I went fishing, along with the eldest's girlfriend. The younger of the two boys and I dug for worms and we actually found just what we needed, along with a plastic tub with holes already punched in the lid and dirt to put them in. It was a blessed day.
I have 3 wonderful sisters and life just seems to be drawing us back to each other more and more. Scarlette and Pam (oldest and youngest) watched from afar as the 3 kids went out in the canoe onto the lake, while Linda and I remained on the dock trying to fish ourselves, but a dog kept jumping in the water and swimming circles around the dock. (The boys' grandmother...my eldest sister...has lived on the lake for many years and this is where their grandfather lovingly taught his grandchildren to fish.) I screamed from the shore, just as they were pushing off, "Bring back 7 fish and I will cook them! But you have to clean them!" I think they usually just caught and released, but this time I wanted them to have a feast and I wanted to do the cooking.
They brought back the fish and I told them how to clean them. Now, I have to admit here...I've rarely fished; never baited a hook; double never ever touched a fish or worm, and certainly never cooked a fish before, but I certainly did a fine job of telling them what to do. (Once a teacher, always a teacher. : ) (I did call Randy just to make sure my steps were correct, and my sister Linda was there for back up and scaling, because she's done it all, but she was not so quick to step in this time. She did a fine job of teaching the girlfriend how to scale, though.) My younger sister Pam made hush puppies and we had other food people had graciously dropped by and we truly had a feast by candlelight. It had to have made their grandfather smile. It sure did me. The fish was delicious, but I wanted so badly to put it on a stick and cook it over an open fire. I taught everyone at the table how Grandpa Harry had taught me to squeeze the fish on both sides, years ago, and everyone was amazed at how quickly the meat pulled away from the bone. So as not to waste a drop, I had my nephew save all the YUCK from his cleaning and bury it in the ground as fertilizer. (I hope my sister doesn't plant over there any time soon.) It was a bittersweet day to say the least.
All the stuff in between is the stuff that feeds your soul (or works to destroy it, but I'm staying away from that) ...like picking roses and arranging them into bouquets that will remind you inside of what awaits you outside...the product of your labor; and the necessary things like cleaning and lawn upkeep that make your life uncluttered, and encouraging others in their time of need.
Randy's co-worker and our friend, Michael came for a night and Randy cooked a spring chicken stew from a recipe he'd found in the paper the week before. It was delicious. Goodness...does it seem as though the theme of this post is cooking? Could be because I'm trying to watch what I eat...swimming pool weather is fast approaching and I do not want to do the winter waddle down to the pool in a few weeks. Well, I guess I'd better go and drink some water to fill up so I don't go foraging for that late night snack I used to eat before bedtime...you know...just to tide me over til morning. Happy eating.
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