“Meemaw’s Sayings” Spanning Four Generations…And Counting

While sorting through things to donate for our church rummage sale I found this crumpled sheet of paper tucked into one of my cupboards. And of course it brought tears to my eyes. It’s entitled Meemaw’s Sayings…

One of our Indy granddaughters wrote this with no prompting from me. I must have found it lying on the kitchen table during one of our many visits to their home, so I obviously stuck in in my luggage and brought it with me to Florida. It’s notes like this that remind me of how much influence (both good or bad) adults can have on the impressionable children in our lives.

And yes, that little girl was right. These ARE my “sayings”…and to know that our grandchildren are listening and remembering the lessons I teach in my kitchen is both heartwarming and gratifying.

Peepaw and I know we won’t be able to leave a fortune to our kids…but we are leaving all of them some life lessons we hope they will pass along for generations to come.

Some of those sayings were passed down to me from the best cook I’ve ever known. My Mom.

It’s hard to believe how long she’s been gone, but her lessons and her recipes and her kitchen wisdom still live on today.

Now about those sayings…

EAT A RAINBOW EVERY DAY

This had been my mantra ever since our grandkids learned their colors.

Their smiles around our table are are more precious than gold.

We have had many discussions over dinner to see how many colors those kids have eaten that day.

That discussion ALWAYS makes for great table conversation! It quickly becomes a competition to see who has consumed the most colors…and those rascals are quick to add up their scores to see who wins for that day. After all the usual talk about broccoli and blueberries and cantaloupe and tomatoes… I’ve been reminded more than once that brown may not be a color in the rainbow…but it IS a color. So those future litigators have even found a way to include chocolate in their color count! And they are quick to remind me that LOTS of candy DOES come in many rainbow colors.

EAT WITH YOUR EYES FIRST

This is an easy one since we all learn at an early age that if all foods are the same shape or color on our plates our taste buds tend to go into hibernation. (Well…SOME people’s do. Mine? Not so much! I seem to find joy in eating just about ANYTHING…regardless of the color combo! In fact my Mom used to tell me to “give my stomach a rest.”)

Check out this ALL BROWN lunch…

And this all brown dinner…

Now check out this fruit salad prepared by Indy Middle Sis! She even headed out to my herb bed for some fresh mint to add some GREEN to her dish!

Be still my heart…

Yes..the colors on a plate can work magic on a picky eater. But I’m happy to say none of our grandkids need much encouragement to try new things.. (Most of them even love sushi!)

The more kids are involved in the kitchen, the better eaters they will be. Even Little Sis quickly learned to “cut” the ends off of fresh green beans. (But she used a cheese spreader to do it.)

Cleanliness IS next to godliness…especially in the kitchen! (At least in MY book.)

Just don’t expect ANY kid to hang around to remove the pits from THIS MANY cherries! (That’s why Meemaws were invented.)

COOKING IS ART

I may not be very talented with a paintbrush or a lump of clay, but I DO believe art comes in MANY forms…

Yes, Dear Readers…that crumpled piece of paper truly warmed my heart. And I hope Meemaw’s Sayings will be passed on for generations yet to come.

In fact I’m counting on it.