"Milepost # 2 - The Roadside Café "Next exit: Mom"

Although I didn't get in on the Carnival ~ Bound for Mom, it was because I really didn't have anything in common with the other topics in this Carnival. My mom didn't drive or travel however I do like Milepost # 2 - The Roadside Café "Next exit: Mom. She's closer than you think." from Thomas MacEntee. So here is my "Milepost # 2 - The Roadside Café Next exit: Mom".

My mom could make liver taste like Swiss stake which is what she did and we loved it, we asked her to make it all the time. Little did we know, it was made with liver. To this day I don't know if my brother's knew it was made with liver. When we were real young we weren't allowed in the kitchen unless we were invited or it was time to sit down and eat. When we got older we had moved into a smaller house and only 2 people could be in the kitchen at any given time unless we were sitting at the table so we never had any idea this dish was made with liver and not the stake she said it was. Even as an adult I would ask her to make this "Swiss stake" for me but by then I knew it was made with liver but I didn't care, I still loved it. She would coat the liver with a little flour and lightly fry it in bacon grease with onions then add a can of tomato sauce with some peas and carrots and let it cook for an hour of so. She would serve this over mashed potatoes.

Mom and Grandma were great cooks. Mom loved to cook and grandma loved to bake. Grandma lived with us most of my young life. I grew up in Detroit in a good ethnic neighborhood so mom would go and cook with the neighbors. She would go to see Lydia who was of Spanish descent and learn how to make Spanish rice and homemade tamales which would take all day. She would cook with the polish lady's and make glumkies = stuffed cabbage. Mom learned how to cook a bunch of Hungarian food with her sister my Auntie Marlene whom was married to a man of Hungarian descent they would make Chicken Paprika, Green Bean Soup, Cabbage and Noodles, all sorts of good food.

Holidays in my neighborhood was like being in food heaven with all the aromas from each house you walked past on the block.

Grandma would bake cakes and pies for the whole neighborhood. They would commission her for birthdays, showers and party's. Grandma didn't make the traditional apple pie she made what she called apple rolls, she would roll out her pie dough on a flat surface and brush the dough with melted butter, a sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg, a handful of brown sugar then layer with apples and roll this strudel style and bake, everyone in the family makes these to this day even the men are now teaching their children how to make grandma's apple rolls. Some of these kids would be her great great great grandchildren. I miss the chocolate pudding she made and often think I wish I would have learned how to make that delicious treat.

Oftentimes grandma would have us in the kitchen while she was baking, we would roll dough, stir the batter or lick the beaters when she was done with the mixer. She would let us make our own little pies and cakes, all of us kids loved this treat, the cousin's would come over and we would bake all day.

How I miss them and all their delicious treats, even though I make most of these treats myself, to me, they just don't taste like mom and grandma's did.