On Friday, I had the urge to make popcorn. It did not involve throwing a paper bag lined with God-knows-what into the microwave, but instead: a heavy pot, a stove, oil and popcorn kernels. I shook the pan over the stove like a madwoman, to keep the oil from burning. Then pop! pop! poppoppoppoppoppoppoppop! until the pot was filled with the white fluffy food almost to overflowing. Dumping the hot popcorn into large bowls, I waited until the pot cooled a little before putting pats of butter in it to melt. I poured the butter over the popcorn, salted it, and served it to my girls as an afternoon snack.
Popcorn. Just the way my mom used to make popcorn for us. Freshly popped, heavy on the butter and salt, delicious.
It has been a long time since I last tasted my mother’s popcorn. We used to have popcorn every Sunday night. Mom had already made a big Sunday dinner for us to eat after church; Sunday evening was her time to relax, to not cook. If we wanted something else to eat, that was fine, but we had to fix it ourselves. I ate a lot of cheese sandwiches with my popcorn on Sunday nights.
It seems like my mom pops into my head a lot these days as I’m cooking meals for my family. On Halloween, I made her chili recipe in the crock pot. It was a great, warm meal to come home to after trick-or-treating in the cold weather. Tonight, I made homemade pizza just the way Mom taught me. Mom told me every now and then that she was tired of cooking for all six of us. She would complain about how she couldn’t think of anything to make for dinner. I would always compliment her cooking; I loved her meals. But now, as I struggle to make dinner for the family every night, I know how she felt.
I also know that even though she got tired of cooking dinner, she loved seeing the family come together at the dinner table. As I make her recipes and come up with my own recipes, I have wonderful memories of the meals she made.
Even of the meals that consisted of nothing but popcorn.
Mom husking corn with Lily and Emmy.
In memory of Mom
I remember my father once telling me his mother (my grandmother) hated cooking, but she would on occasion cook several times a day so every member in the household would get at least one hot meal a day. It wasn't always possible to have the whole family gather, due to school and the farm itself. However, she did love doing the washing-up!
I don't have that many recipes taught to me by my mum. And I am quite a basic cook at that. Although I will try out things I find in one of the many cookbooks I have.
I'm very sorry for your loss. Your Mom sounds like she was so awesome! I remember having popcorn made that way too, back in the day. What nice memories these recipes must bring!
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Fresh popcorn from the pan, there is nothing like it. I love reading your memories of your mom. Such sweet joy to have those tidbit of love tucked neatly into our hearts or those we love most 🙂 Thank for stopping by my blog "rowmie" 😉
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Oh how I relate to this post. My family used to have popcorn every Sunday night too. I loved that tradition and now I have the old family popcorn bowl. It's huge and turquoise and filled with memories. And I cook for only four but get tired of it too. But that popcorn, let's keep the tradition going! Thanks for stopping by my site.
Your mom sounds like she was awesome. That popcorn sounds pretty good, too, certainly better than the bag of stale "gourmet" cheese popcorn I had yesterday! 🙂
What wonderful memories! That popcorn sounds and looks yummy! Your mom sounds so loving! 🙂 Thanks for sharing! oh! And thanks for your comment on my SITS Day!
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I’m sorry your mom isn’t with you anymore. What wonderful and tasty memories you have and now passing along to your children. That’s the only way we make popcorn. Yum!
Your mom and my mom have that Sunday night popcorn thing in common. I continued it with my kids too. I quite like the way your mom made it though!
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Real popcorn tastes so much better than microwave. Especially when there are warm memories to go along with it.
Sweet memories of your Mom. ((HUGS)) I haven't made popcorn in a pot in years. I think we smelled burnt popcorn too many time 🙂 Anyway I am putting an air popper on my Christmas list. We use to have one and then we went to the microwave kind and I want to go back to the air popper!
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Oh Ginny, what a beautiful memory and a beautiful post. I miss my Mama all the time, and making her food absolutely feels like connecting with her, and bringing her into our lives.
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Wonderful post. Thanks for sharing your loving memories.
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I love how you’ve shared this memory of making popcorn the old-fashioned way! There’s something so nostalgic about it. It reminds me of my own childhood, where simple meals and snacks like this had a special place in our hearts. Your mom’s chili and pizza sound like they’d be amazing comfort foods, too!