Thanks, Mom

August 17, 2012



Jennie used to make this cold string bean and potato salad, the Italian kind, with olive oil and vinegar that I used to turn my nose up at as a kid. So ethnic! And cold beans! UGH! I never ate it but she kept making it anyway. But guess what I have been craving? Yes, cold string beans with potatoes.

For a long time I didn't think I could replicate my mother's recipes. I was actually afraid to try. But slowly I conquered eggs and potatoes, chicken soup and her delicious stew. Even escarole and beans, which I never thought I could make like she did. I still haven't mastered her sauce or meatballs and don't think I ever will.

Yesterday I bought green beans and fingerling potatoes at Hindinger's. I boiled them and dressed them with oil, vinegar and Dijon mustard and added some basil, parsley, dill and red onion. OK, so just a bit more upscale than Jennie would have liked (she would never use Dijon mustard or dill) but still delicious. I know she is smiling down at me.

 Although she didn't say "I love you" very much she thought cooking good meals was the same thing. So thanks, Mom. For all the love and the delicious food. And thanks for encouraging me to be a nurse instead of the medical secretary I wanted to be so I could get married sooner. We see how that turned out. "Become a nurse, you will always have a job." But especially thank you for making me get my Bachelor's Degree in Nursing back when it wasn't so popular. You were right after all!