Old and New

I'm changing things around a little bit as of this post.

I feel like I've been a little stilted in my writing here, so I'm going to try to be a little less formal. I am also going to do a little of the older stories and mix in more current events. We'll see whether this sounds any better.

Those of us who grew up here in Billings on Lake Elmo Drive know that a lot of the cooking of dinner meals over the years has been done by our dad - Maurice.

The family story is that Dad taught his new bride - Mary how to cook. Dad says that he learned to cook in the mission field in self defense. His first meal prepared by his first companion in the mission field was a pan of boiled potatoes and a quart of milk. So he took over the cooking to get something more resembling a real meal. Along the way he learned to prepare Mexican meals (taught by people he met in his missionary labors) On one occasion his mission president brought the mission office staff to Dad's home for him to make a Mexican meal for all of them. On another occasion a family that had a ranch in Mexico asked Dad if he knew how to butcher a cow. [They had to smuggle a cow across the border because even though the cow was their own if the ration board found out they'd brought it into the states they'd loose all their ration coupons for every other food items] So Dad who had butchered pigs on his families farm in Wyoming but never a cow told them he could do it. He was rewarded for his help with several large steaks. Shortly after that the other elders in his apartment were all out - leaving him home alone (rules have sure changed since then haven't they) So Dad took one of those big steaks and made himself dinner.

Mother on the other hand was the youngest in her family and hadn't had to do any of the cooking at home. Then she went to nursing school where she ate all her meals in the hospital cafeteria, and continued that practice after she went to work.

The family members living here in Billings still get the benefit of Dad's cooking. We have frequent family dinners in which Dad does most of the cooking. A couple of weeks ago he got a new larger crock pot which came with a cook book. So this week he used it to cook a whole pork shoulder and made pulled pork sandwiches for a family Sunday dinner yesterday (9/2/07) with a jello salad and a potato salad. I work in the Nursery at church with our block ending at 4:00 pm. Our family dinners are usually scheduled to start around 2:00 pm because everyone else is out of church at that time and Bob needs to get home with some time to get a nap before going to work at 11:00 pm. So when I get home everyone has come & gone. I miss seeing everyone, but Mother & Dad really enjoy their time with the family.