People + Food

As you may or not recall my Sissy started a second blog called People + Food. There is a link to it on the right hand side of this blog. She simply wants people to send her stories about food. It can be your favorite food, your favorite recipe to cook, favorite restaurant or favorite food memory. I finally got around to sending her a story. It is fun and I challenge all my readers to send in a story. I know you all have lots of food memories too!

Here is what she asks for more specifically:

Two of the main passions in my life are people and food. I started a new experimental blog, hoping to capture the two of them in a unique way, but I need your help. I am looking for input from diverse people, both ethnically and geographically. I need only two things: a portrait photograph (mostly face/head) and a food memory. That's all! I think the site will be fantastic, and take on a life of its own. Right now, I am just trying to get it started. Your food memories will not be edited, I will not comment. Under your photo will be your full name and your food memory, as you write it. If you have any questions, please e-mail me at the link on my main website, www.andtheeggs.net. Also on that site, on the upper right hand corner, is a link to the new blog. Or click here to access it- www.foodandpeople.blogspot.comThank you for your consideration!!

And here is my Contribution posted there today:

There are so many great food stories in my memory. My family was lucky enough to have many, many meals together while I was growing up. And while I have fond family memories and recipes, I have also been lucky to learn different recipes from other close families. It is no secret to anyone who knows me that, fortunately or UN, I have had my share of boyfriends. Some say I like variety - like a good tapas plate that has a little of everything. Due to this I have learned some great recipes from the mothers of my boyfriends. Recipes that I would never have normally come across. You can say it was an added bonus. If love don't last forever, well, the recipes will and have.

It is hard to pick a favorite but I will say one of the top recipes I was ever taught and still make to this day is Mrs. Organ's Cream Chipped Beef. This recipe fascinated and thrilled me. Yes, you heard me right. You see, Jews don't eat meat out of can unless, I suppose, they are trapped in a bunker, lost somewhere. Needless to say, I had never seen or heard of this delicacy but Steve kept talking about his mother's creamed chip beef like it was heaven drizzled on a biscuit. I try to be adventurous when it comes to food - at least tasting it if not loving it. My parents taught us to try everything once. I just wish I had realized then that they were talking about food.

Anyway, Steve's parents live in an idyllic log cabin home on the side of a mountain just minutes from West Virginia. Visiting there was always a treat but -- on special occasions --it got even better. I was not sure what to expect when I sat down for breakfast with the whole family - the smell of the biscuits and the chipped beef were almost too much for me to handle. It smelled that good and tasted even better. It was creamy and salty and the biscuits were crunchy. I think I ate two full plates and fell into a food coma. So the next time I made sure to watch the whole process so I could learn how this magical recipe was made. She was kind enough to share this family recipe with me and gave me many helpful hints. Some of the things also apply to other recipes I have tried since then. For instance, the creamed chipped beef starts with a simple roux. I had never done that before and since then it has been in so many recipes I can't count them all. I am grateful to have had that opportunity to learn a recipe that I never would have learned. So, variety may be the spice of life, but it was also my ticket to the best creamed chipped beef anywhere.