Cooking with my Mom

The heat has sent my mother over to my house. Her apartment is on the fourth floor with direct afternoon sun and there is no air conditioning. I worry about her in the heat - she really doesn't do very well - so it felt good to have a cool place for her to come. Knowing that she was going to be hanging out most of the day, however, meant that I was going to have to spend a chunk of time chatting and visiting. Now, this isn't quite pulling teeth. I do love my mother and like hearing about how her world turns but I have been struggling lately with how and where I put my energy. Two weeks of insomnia have taken their toll and even if I finally got a decent night's sleep the night before she came over, I'm certainly not quite back up to my usual resilient self.

My solution to these circumstances was to spend time with her in the kitchen. Kitchens are wonderful places were activities and conversation meet. The tribe that was my mother's family always gravitated around the hearth. It felt natural to pull out a few projects that have been waiting in the wings (or produce drawers) while she sat at the counter working on a hook rug that I gave her fifteen years ago as a Christmas gift.

I dug up quite a few potatoes and beets last week which naturally led to potato salad and pickled beets. My mother's potato salad has always been my favorite. It's funny how I've always heard (or read) how the taste of some dish from childhood seems to set the standard for all future culinary adventures. I hadn't thought too much about that in my own life until I get to the basic tastes that were staples of my own childhood. Potato salad, homemade macaroni and cheese, turkey stuffing, chicken fried steak and fruit pies – hmmm, those are the recipes that primarily come to mind.

Mom keeps her potato salad fairly simple: Potatoes, lots of green onions, celery and hard boiled eggs. She mixes mayo and vinegar, salt & pepper and a little sugar together for the dressing. I can't tell you the exact proportions because she does it by taste – a little more vinegar, maybe a pinch more pepper. The potatoes need to be cut into small bite size pieces so the vinegar can soak in. It is a lovely bit of summer – unpretentious and totally satisfying.

The pickled beets are really more her favorite than mine. I like my beets roasted and then sliced up in a salad but she loves them pickled with onions. With my garden supply I was able to make about four jars of these jewel toned delicacies. Pickling any vegetable is the easiest thing to do in the world. Beets need to be cooked ahead – I roasted them until just cooked through. Pack the produce in a sterilized, hot jar and cover with the hot vinegar liquid. In this case, the vinegar is combined with sugar, cinnamon sticks and allspice with a touch of salt. Let that simmer for about fifteen minutes and then pour into the jars. The jars then need to go in a water bath for 30 minutes.

She left around nine last night with two jars of pickled beets and a big serving of leftover potato salad.

When she comes back over today I think I'll make up a couple batches of raspberry jam.