foodmomiac's blog

My first 10-minute writing exercise from Charlene:

The assignment:

Ready for your first 10-minute writing exercise? This one is based on Wild Mind by Natalie Goldberg...

Write for 10 minutes and start your post with the phrase "I remember..."Only write for 10 minutes. Use a timer. Don't stop writing/typing. Doesn't have to be in the past. It could have been five minutes ago, as Goldberg says. If you get stuck in thought, go back to the phrase "I remember." Don't spell check. Don't edit yourself. Not even to post. Don't worry if you're not sounding like Toni Morrison or [Insert your Favorite Writer].

Ready? go:

I remember cooking with my Grandma Ana in the kitchen in Meriick. It was so frustrating. She wouldn't let me do much of anything. I had to just sit and watch. She would tell me that I was learning from watching. That when I was old enough, she'd let me help. And, eventually she did let me help. We made challah together, but every egg we used had a double yolk so it didn't turn out. She didn't let me help with the chicken soup that time I was sick. I hated it, I remember. My mom always made HER chicken soup with College Inn broth. Grandma made it the right way, with water. But, she didn't add enough salt, so to a kid, it tasted like nothing. I had no appreciation for the finer things, I suppose. What else do I remember about cooking with Grandma? I remember watching her hands. I remember being glad that I had the same hands that she did. After all, a sculptor once wanted to make a sculpture of her hands. He didn't do it. I'm not sure why. Grandma has a few stories about the things that never were. The college education she had to forgo in order to work. The trips she didn't get to take when she eventually got too old. The man who asked her to marry him while presenting her with a jar of caviar. Ten years after she got the caviar she asked me if I thought it was still good. It was buried in the back of her tiny NYC refrigerator. I told her that I doubted it was. Too bad there was no Google then. I would have been able to know for sure. I wonder why she saved it? I supposed it's because she loves to dwell on the things that might have been.

More than cooking WITH my Grandma, I remember the things she cooked for me. I remember this delicious bread she made once. We were having dinner in her studio apartment. There were a lot of us there. It felt like a dinner party. She had a big long table set up in the living room/bedroom. I remember exactly where I sat. I was facing the windows. Back then, that afforded me a look of the skyline. Today, tall buildings block the view. The only thing I remember from that dinner is the bread. It was a long French bread filled with cheese. The cheese was pungent. Was it gruyere? I'm not sure. I loved the play of textures. The chewiness of the cheese contrasted with the flakiness of the bread's crust. I asked Grandma about this bread years later and she didn't remember it at all.

I remember the time David and I spent the night. I didn't like eating breakfast back then, but Grandma insisted I have something. I think we went through a million options. David had an egg mcmuffin from McDonald's. I didn't want that. I told her I'd have cereal. I don't know why I told her that. I only ate sugared cereals then. And never at home because we weren't allowed. She gave me Cheerios and I hated them. She even let me add sugar, but they still tasted gross to me. I didn't get any breakfast that morning. I think I got on her last nerve. The funny thing is that I can see Dylan doing that exact same thing to MY mom. Not knowing what she wanted for breakfast and then deciding upon something only to end up not eating it. Like mother like daughter. The maternal links go on and on.

I remember.

If you could open a restaurant, any kind you want, what would it look like and what's on the menu?
Submitted by A is for Amy.

Oooh, we almost did this, about 7 years ago. It was going to be a Jewish deli. I still have the business plan! Luckily, I came to my senses. I would so hate the lifestyle!

What are your top 5 books of 2006?

OK, I REALLY did not read enough this year, but some of the books that I did read were great:

 

If you could be on any reality TV show, which one would you pick and why?

Oooh, I'd want to be on the Food Network one. I totally need my own show.

What is your current computer desktop image? Let's see it!

Dylan looks like she is choking Max in this picture, but I like having both of them on my desktop. It is nearly impossible to get a good picture of the two of them together.

What's your cell phone's ringtone? What made you pick it?

It's Kanye West's "Touch the Sky." I took this phone from Michael because I wanted the full keyboard, and that's the song he had downloaded. Why do I keep it? It kind of makes me feel bad ass. No one else I know has it, so I always recognize my phone. And, I'm a little too lazy to find another song right now. Maybe next week. 

What's the one CD that will totally remind you of the Summer of 2006?

Oh, this answer is so pathetic - High School Musical. :-(
I do have a list ready-made to be turned into a mix. I think my answer to this question is proof that I need to get my ass on that pronto.