Scrap Cooking - Making Memories With Food
Copyright 2001 by Deanne Curtis

I know that many families are using scrap booking to preserve memories.  But, when I was a little girl some of my most memorable times came from cooking. There were the special birthday dinners my Mom made, the day in and day out cooking my Grama did and the wonderful times I was allowed to cook.  Then, there were the magical times my husband and I went out to eat when we were dating.

With today's economy it seems that eating out is all but a memory.  But, we still have to eat.  In an effort to help my family make special memories of our own, I often turn to the enjoyment we feel when we have a special meal together.  I have many methods to help those good times along.  These include: tradition, celebration, comfort and education.

Tradition makes you feel connected.  One thing the kids and I love to do is to pop up a double batch of popcorn and mix up a pitcher of Kool-Aid.  Add a few ice cubes and some butter and salt and you have a special treat for movie night.

Tradition teaches family history and brings the past ALIVE.  I do this by cooking some of my Mom's special dinners for my children.  While I cook the beef stroganoff, I explain how it was a special dinner to the whole family.  How Mom could add potatoes, rice or noodles to make it a whole different meal.  I also tell of the times we had all three so that each person could fix it his own way.  My children will not have vivid memories of my Mom, but they will feel connected to her through our special meals together.

Celebration is a powerful tool.  During Thanksgiving and Christmas, we have many foods that we eat.  It makes us feel special to be able to have homemade Christmas cookies and candies.  It also makes us feel rich to roast a turkey.  These foods don't cost more than other foods.  In fact, they are often on sale during the holidays.  But they sure do make for great memories.  Who doesn't feel special when they smell cookies baking or a turkey roasting?

Comfort is what makes you feel loved and taken care of.  Usually when my family starts to come down with a winter cold, I start a pot of chicken soup and mix up a bowl of JELL-O.  These foods soothe the throat and provide the needed liquids.  I still remember my Mom going to the store and buying special sick foods for me and my sister whenever we got sick.  She usually bought: lemon drops, Chicken flavored crackers, wintergreen lozenges, Campbell's soups and pops.  

These foods are rather easy to prepare and relatively easy to have on hand.  It isn't really the particular foods though, as much as it is a sense of love that parents give to their children when they care for them.  By the way, if you want to find a way to treat your sick spouse special call your Mother in-law and ask her for some suggestions.  Find out what some of her specialties were and make use of those suggestions.

Even if I weren't a homeschool mother, I think I would use cooking to help in my children's education.  I remember how my seventh grade math teacher reinforced our fractions lessons by letting us adjust recipes and then cook them.  I also remember how my Western Civ. Professor in college captured my attention by bringing us samples of food from the different cultures we studied.  

Now with my own children, I try to cook several meals to go along with each unit we study.  When we studied Peter Rabbit, we sampled a variety of vegetables, brown bread and chamomile tea.  When we studied Little House in the Big Woods, we made corn bread with molasses.  And now with our study about insects, we will be sampling honey.  It takes some planning ahead on shopping days, but the benefits are more than worth it.  The more ways we can think of to reach our children and get them interested in their studies, the more likely they are to enjoy their studies.  This will help them to learn to enjoy learning for their own sake and to be self motivated.

So you see, cooking is a valuable tool for making family memories.  It helps us feel connected, makes us feel special, reminds us we are loved and teaches us to love learning.  It doesn't have to be expensive to cook at home and it doesn't have to be hard.  I suggest that you borrow some children's cookbooks from the library and start making some memories with your children.  You can even make your own cookbook.  Borrow recipes from your Mom and Mother in-law, your friends and from online recipe sites.  You can also join special email groups that are devoted to sharing recipes.  You can do all of these things and more.  But the most important thing to remember is to have a good time.  

*  *  *