Page 7 - Scene Magazine 46-04 April 2021

The Way I’ve Scene I
t
BY DENISE POYER
used about as often. Three of my eight precious “Taste of Home” books have page numbers corresponding to the one or two recipes I ever make from them scrawled inside the front cover for con- venience, but other than that,
For me, the history of the food we love is very important. If I make a dish from your recipe, it is forever yours.
If I share it with someone else, your name goes with it. That Black Binder is full of yummy recipes for things like “Gayle’s Cheesy Potatoes,” “Margo’s
lada Lasagna Stuff,” but it is a time-consuming pain to make, so I don’t want that recipe. I just want her to keep making it for us. All these people have turned me into the decent cook I am.
they look as new as the day I got them. In the end, my most well-used and loved books are the red plaid Better Homes and Gardens “New Cook Book” I bought in 1981 and my beloved black binder.
If you are the cook, I see you. I know thinking up what
to eat 300 days a year is hard. I also know you messed up more than one thing figuring out how to make stuff, and I know that sometimes, you manage to mess up something you have made a hundred times. When the food is laid on the table, I notice that you have the serving with the burnt or dry edges, and I know
I remember learning three things in the home econom- ics kitchen at school. How
to make hot chocolate from scratch, how to prepare cinna- mon toast, and how to make ice cream, which came with
a free lesson – what happens
to raw eggs if you blend them
too quickly with hot ingredi-
ents. I’m no expert, but I don’t think “Scrambled Egg” will ever become Baskin Robbins’ 32nd flavor. Yuk.
Frosted Peanut Butter Cookies,” “Peg’s Pineapple Angel Food Cloud Cake,” “Gayle’s Roast Beef,” and something called “Betsy Cake,” which was hand- ed down from The Hub’s mom, whom I never had the pleasure of meeting.
you are quietly eating the cold toast and egg with the broken yolk. I know that sometimes your serving is smaller than you’d like, because you made sure everyone else had enough. You are
an unsung hero. If you are a gracious eater dining at home, you should kiss the cook.
From my mother, I learned to make spaghetti sauce from scratch and a decent meatloaf, though her recipe has been replaced by the one I got from my boss, Brad. It is super easy, quick and delicious every time. From my dad, I learned to make Galumpkis (cabbage rolls) and roast beef hash.
Recipes that I found on the back of packages, in various books or on the
I taught myself the finer art of frying bologna. Most of my cooking was learned on the fly.
My poor friend, Gordy, who cooked for the fire station for many years, took more than one panicked call from me... “Gordy! I’m making mashed potatoes, and how many do
I cook that for two people? Gordy, I bought turkey legs. How do I cook them?” Eventually, I got the hang of it, and between the red plaid book and
I have 51 cook- books and nothing to make for dinner. It is a collection the size of a set
of Encyclopedia Britanica from
the 1960’s and is
the help of cooks who were already accomplished, I created That Black Binder With My Picture On It, as it has come to be known. That book holds the recipes of the very best food I make, and they are all tried and true.
“interwebs” are things like Spinach Spaghetti, Parmesan Chicken, Tuna Pizza, and Broccoli Noodle Bake.
You can see why That Black Binder With My Picture On It is something I would grab if the house caught on fire. Thanks to my friend, Virlean, I can make up a mess of greens, though they are not as good as hers. I owe a debt of gratitude and five pounds to my friend, Don, who shared the 4-1-1 on smokey macaroni and cheese. My friend Wanda makes “That Chicken Enchi-
Kiss the Cook
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