Mary Jane Part 2

Some more memories of my sister throughout the years.  Several of those memories have to do with food.  My ex and I used to spend a lot of time with my sister and her husband.  She was a good cook and introduced us to things we knew nothing about.  One was "Hungarian Goulash".  I've tried to look it up on the inter net of late and find there is not ONE recipe for Goulash.  It is one of those recipes that every 'grandma' has her own recipe for.  I can remember it had ground beef, garlic, tomatoes, macaroni, onions and probably several things I can't remember.  But I loved it.  It had a special kind of weird flavor to it that I loved.  I think that was probably garlic.

She is also the one who first made tacos for us.  No sauce, just browned ground beef, lettuce, tomato, onions, cheese and hot sauce on a quickly fried corn tortilla.  I still do not like flour tortillas.  I just long for the corn ones.  Over the years I've made them a lot though not of late.  They are soooooo good.

My ex and I lived in a small apartment or a small house and did not have room for a chest freezer but my sister and her husband did.  We also has a 'slaughter house' in our nearby town (Paintsville) and we'd split a half hog and a quarter of beef.  They would keep the meat in their freezer and we would go up about once a week and select enough meat to last us for the next week.

Growing up country and sharing that meat I want to tell you the fresh killed beef and pork we grew up with bears little resemblance to what you buy today in a market.  I'd love to have a freezer and a local slaughter house today and I'd never buy any meat at all from a supermarket again.  People who have not been exposed to it don't realize what a great difference there is.

Another of my great memories is sitting around the kitchen table with my sister, her husband, my ex and myself playing Rook.  We played with a 120 point deck.  That won't make any sense at all if you are not familiar with Rook but there are several configurations in scoring.  There is a 120, 150 and 180 point deck.  We'd sit for hours and hours playing Rook.  Just like with my brother and his wife we'd sit for hours playing Hearts.  I never realized, at the time, just how precious those times were.

But back to food.  Due to my sister's Lupus she could not be out in the sunlight so when it was dark we'd take her up to the Jerry's restaurant in Prestonsberg and she'd get the strawberry pie.  First time I'd ever seen anything like that with all the whole strawberries covered by whipped cream.  She loved them so much.  And it was about the only time and way she could leave the house.

Homer (her husband) raised a small garden every year and made the typical stuff plus something called 'Pickle Lilly'.  It is a kind of mix of peppers and other veggies.  It was something I'd not encountered prior to that and did not care much for.  In later days it has become something I enjoy.  When I'm not feeling well I crave hot/spicy foods.  Though the way my stomach has gotten those hot/spicy foods do not like me very much.  :-)

Maybe more memories at a later date.  Feeling a little on the emotional side now.