Author: Donald Guenther
Uploaded: 10/25/2013
Some memories:
My dad prepared eggs for my little brother Ed and I every morning while worked the summer in the woods setting chokers. One morning Ed commented to dad that he tried to poke his fork into his egg and the fork shot back at him hitting him in the eye. His egg had been cooked in bacon grease and turned out rubbery. Last breakfast we got from dad.
Big brother John and enjoyed garlic for the first time in college. Home for a holiday we watched mom take a beautiful steak dip the steak into flour, put a chunk of butter on the flour and broil the steak in the oven. John and I kindly asked if we could prepare our steaks. Mom caught on quickly and asked us if we didn’t like her cooking.
Explanation:
Home cooking in the Guenther family meant cooking in volume with minimum preparation time. We didn’t take much time downing the food either. We could polish off everything mom cooked in less than 5 minutes. I can’t remember ever having leftovers. I first heard the word “Leftovers” watching “Leave It to Beaver” on T.V. With a family of 16 mouths to feed mom focused on the stomach and not on the pallet. She said she didn’t learn to cook growing up because her older sister, Louise, had been the one to work in the kitchen with our grandmother. None of us disputed her story.
We had spaghetti, stew, goona goona, Spanish rice, roast beef and chicken. Turkey on holidays served to be a real treat.
My wife can’t understand how I can eat so fast and eat the same food day after day. People from big families understand.
Those of us who were not dumber than a box of rocks:
When the family got a television set the TV became more important than food and table talk. My oldest sister at home Phiddy saw the problem but the rest the family went for the TV set. We had never viewed food as of much value. Table talk meant little to us as we’d been brought up at the little guns table and didn’t have much conversation.
My Current Thinking:
Having dad and mom prepare meals for us had been an act of their love. When we suggested their contribution didn’t measure up to what we’d experience from others they felt rejected and hurt. My tastes have changed over time but I will never forget that hurting people over food is not worth it. People are more important than food and an act of love should be treated ever so gently.
When our family replaced table talk with a TV set there was no family. The family unit broke down. My sister Phiddy saw the problem; I wish other can also see the problem. Families are built a day at a time with everyone sharing the events of their lives together both big and small. We develop a sense of wellbeing and belonging as we eat together. When we watch TV while eating we are eating alone even if others are in the room. Time together must be spent interacting for connection to be made.
I remember at the time when TV became the center of our family I had feelings and dreams of being on the outside looking in. Others were in the car and I, outside looking in, no longer felt a part of their lives.
