Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Mom's Birthday

Today was my mom's birthday, she would have been 62. I'm a naughty daughter, and I haven't called my father. I don't deal well with his emotions anymore, so I just don't deal with them at all. Bad. Bad. Bad. I was thinking of them both today. So in honor of it being Mardi Gras and Fat Tuesday, and mom's birthday, I made roasted chicken and egg noodles in honor of mom. It was the one meal my mother could not screw up, except that period of time she ate garlic alllll the time and sliced it into the dish, not crushing it first to get those special flavors mixed in the clove. YUK. I have yet to replicate her recipe, and maybe never will, but the oldest said "This chicken is bangin' with the noodles." I try. At least I didn't burn the food. I'm good about that. I didn't learn to cook from my mother. I learned how not to cook from her. Except the chicken and noodle thing. Brother and Sister both agree with me, that the chicken and egg noodles was her best meal. Everything else, I learned from the motherly-types around me, friends, neighbors, and even celebrities. My turkey gets cooked upside down, because that's how Celine Dion does hers. At least that's what she said on Oprah 13 years ago when I made my first Thanksgiving dinner, and invited my parents up to NC to join us. Dad was impressed. Then again, he'd been eating my mother's cooking all those years. I now understood why she never made us a birthday cake.

4 comments:

Persnickety Ticker said...

Happy birthday to Mom.

Hope you are OK. I know you don't deal well with this subject.

Virtual hugs to you since you are avoiding me like the plague because I have the plague.

Sunny Yukon said...

(((Hugs to you and your dad too))) I don't know if as time passes you'll find it easier, but I do hope for you that when you have chicken and noodles it makes you smile and think "just like mom" and maybe share some mom stories with your kids. Or maybe if you have chicken and noodles elsewhere you can think "my mom's was better" with a satisfied grin.

Kristin said...

Learning how not to cook from your mom sounds like a very unique and special memory! *hugs* What a great Fat Tuesday meal, and a great tribute.

Laura said...

Isn't it nice that you have this one dish to pass on to the future generations?
I rarely eat egg noodles even though they are so good.
My mother cooks with lots of egg noodles too...maybe that's why I like pretty much everything she makes.