Happy New Year and Food Reflections Inspired by my Grandparents

Happy New Year! It is an exciting time of year where I choose to reflect on the past, choose a mindset for the next year, and move forward in an intentional way to define my next phase in life. This year I have been feeling the loss of my mother’s parents. This being the first post of the year, and of the blog’s upgrade, I’d like to dedicate the blog to my family and all of my grandparents. So, I have thought about how all of my grandparents have impacted my relationship with food and what they love.

As I enter the new year curiously, and with love, I always have more questions. Thinking about my grandparents has inspired me to ask you the following questions:

1) Who was involved in your first food memory?

2) Who are the people in your life that have affected your relationship with food?

3) What memories and thoughts about food do you want to keep?

I have lots to say about my grandparents but it is only recently I realized I have inherited some of their traits around food :).

My mother’s mother; Elisabeth 
(Photo from 2009 age 87 celebrating their 61st wedding anniversary..
and they even shared another 5 more with 66 years together.)

She left a legacy of loving to host people when she passed away at 94 this past September. She enjoyed cooking but it was all about making sure that everyone was stuffed to the brim. In fact she would often be heard when I was much younger saying “Eat, Eat, Eat” as was the European way and having lived through hard times.

There were always multiple courses, and lots of food. I’ve definitely inherited her love of hosting, and maybe a little of cooking too much food, (ok ok.. a lot then…) but it makes me happy. I loved her little crescent shaped cookies, and she was famous for her homemade “cheesestraws”. We MAY have pulled out some that were in freezer, and slightly stale.. and ate them anyways at her celebration of life :). Not that food safe and not recommended at home but.. that happened.

My father’s mother; Sally
(Photo from 2009 December, age 87)

She is my last grandparent currently alive at 94 at the time of this post, but has since passed away Spring 2019 at age 96. She is vibrant, feisty with a positive attitude and just as clear about what she will have and won’t have in her life as what she will and won’t have in her food.

She had her special recipes, including my favourite flaky crust apple pie (I even had it for a birthday once), and her mint icing brownies. She would always say “the cake is light, you can have another piece”. She enjoyed cooking for her family but also was interested in health. As a public health nurse, including in the schools, she was quite proud of having health as a priority – but there was always room for a little dessert. I inherited her chocolate stash necessity and sweet tooth (from both her and my dad). She had a desire to balance health with a bit of sweetness.

My father’s father; Jack
(Photo from 2007 December, age 84)

My Grandad Jack was the youngest of all my grandparents and unfortunately the first to leave us at age 85 in 2008. He was often heard at the dinner table saying “Well I’d like whatever he’s got” pointing to whoever got served first and looking quite sad about having to wait for supper. In fact, he was also known to say “Call me anything you want, but don’t call me late for supper!”. My Grandad had one of those incredible metabolisms. He had a bottomless pit as a stomach, and no matter how many helpings he ate, he stayed quite strong and slim for most of his senior years. He was quiet, patient, knew many memorized silly sayings he’d confide with the dinner table with a twinkle in his eye. And he adored his wife completely – and her food.

My mother’s father; Kalman
(Photo from 2012, April, age 96)

At 98, in full mental health, my Papa left us 2 years ago on New Years Eve. He lived a good life and was the center of attention at the dinner party for family and friends. He loved to tell stories of the old country in Europe, and of the war. Times were tough for his mother and him. He lost his father when he was a baby and his step father at 14, whom he loved dearly at 14. His stories often reminded us not to take the feast for granted. Times are lucky now for us here in Canada but are not in other parts of the world and war time is terrifying. We must never forget.

I remember one day walking around, quite thirsty, and deciding if I wanted to purchase water. It was then I realized how lucky we are to have the choice to satisfy our thirst so easily – and to drink it all at once. I was reminded that Papa survived the march back from the world war 2 with only 1 bottle of Benedictine and no food.

Needless to say, as the holiday season passes, I think of all of my grandparents, how much I love them all, those living and those gone, and drink a small toast to them all (and yes, there is always a bottle of Benedictine in our home).

Thanks for sharing this first New Year post with me.

Much Love – and Happy Tasting,

Irena