Food Teachers (W3)

Throughout my life, my father has always taught me how to cook since he was always the parent that would be creative and cook whatever he thought up. There have been life lessons that he has taught me through food; patience mainly. However, when my mother was willing to teach me some family recipes that I had grown to love over the years, I was very excited to begin. There were two in particular that she taught me how to make that I absolutely loved and was more than willing to be an astute student.

The first was what my family called “Surprise Packages.” It consists of a mixture of shredded American cheese, mayonnaise, mustard and hardboiled egg pieces, chopped ham, and of course buns. Taking me through the process was enjoyable. After taking the time to hard boil the eggs, we diced them up and put them into a boil. Then we added mayonnaise, mustard, and cheese. (I do not remember the exact amounts, although the cheese is relative because no matter how much cheese you have, you never have enough in my opinion.) As I looked at the combination of ingredients in the bowl, it does make a person reconsider if they really do like it; however, I knew how awesome it tasted and sights are everything to me. So we then place the contents of the bowl onto buns that created the perfect little sandwiches. After wrapping each sandwich up with tin foil, we placed them in the oven and waited for the cheese to melt and the buns to get crisp. It was such a great time learning how to make a simple food that I loved to eat.

The second thing that my mother taught me how to make was “No Bake Cookies.” Now the recipe for this I am sure I could find on Google if I wanted to because I know many people that make these and bring them to parties. I also have seen these sold in stores. However, no matter where I eat them or see them, they are never as good as how my mom makes them. That is because although she uses the same ingredients as everyone else: vanilla extract, oatmeal, chocolate, butter, milk and peanut butter, she just adds way more peanut butter to the mix. Yet, no matter how much peanut butter she puts in, it is never overbearing in taste. That is the key. That is why her No Bakes will always be the best to me because I honestly love peanut butter.

When I learned these recipes, I did not really learn too many life lessons (since they were simple and straightforward); however, I did get a wonderful experience with my mother. I do not really talk to her that often, but the times I got to learn family recipes with her was absolutely great and I do cherish those moments. It is surprising when the person you did not think could be a teacher for cooking becomes one right in front of your eyes. My mother is proud of these recipes and I am proud to know how to make them because of her.