December 2011

I talked about the table, and now the memory lane has arrived at a teacup and toast.  As a little girl, my mom fostered my love of tea.  We were a family of firm breakfast believers- the most important way to start your day!  My childhood mornings would begin with a cup of really weak tea because weak was how I liked it in the days of budding tastes.  For whatever reason, the tea was best served in the brown ceramic mug that caught my eye anew on my recent visit to mom’s cupboards.

I still am very much a tea fan, but on this sunny, wintry morning, I filled my memory cup with coffee, made with extra strength for my visit.  I grew up with parents who sipped from mugs of coffee throughout the day.  When I finally began to drink coffee and drink it with increasing strength, I questioned how my parents still had stomach linings with the quantities they consumed.  Then I tasted their coffee.  Coffee flavored water?  Water flavored coffee?  Coffee flavored tea?  It was weak, but that’s how they like it.

Tastes and memories are intertwined.  Even though my tastes and cooking style has become bolder and more complex than my roots, there’s something really comforting in the refined way my mom can prepare a roast or an array of vegetables.  However, I do have to request a few extra scoops of coffee in the filter.