Traverse City Record-Eagle

Edna Shaffer: Grandma's Kitchen

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June 10, 2008

Grandma's Kitchen: A perfect birthday

By Edna Shaffer

Have you ever felt so happy that you would just like to push the stop button and freeze your life right there for a long time? I hope so. That's what happened to me on my birthday.

My four daughters all got here at the same time, which seldom works out because of our weird schedules. Here they came, loaded with wonderful food of all kinds, flowers, coffees and goodies. We partied, talked, laughed, reminisced, ate, drank many pots of coffee, took pictures and even slept a little. We drank coffee in our jammies until noon and tried to reduce anything that even looked like work to slow-motion. If ever four women needed to slow down, these did. They all work hard and are caregivers on and off the job ... and they need the boost that only sisters (and hopefully moms) can give. At times, it sounds like group therapy! So for four days we stepped backward out of our current lives to the times when we were all growing up together. I can't tell you how wonderful it was. Now I am enjoying all of the sweet memories.

We also had wonderful food. The girls took turns cooking. Cathy brought our favorite salt potatoes from New York to go with her Chicken Cutlets with Artichoke Sauce over Pasta and other goodies. She put a whole stick of melted butter over the potatoes! Groan. Sarah brought delicious melons and fresh fruits, macaroons and chocolate cookies and many bags of organic coffee beans from Whole Foods where she works. Vicki always fills my pantry and freezer, and she also brought goodies from Panera, bagels and toppings and pizza from the local pizzeria, and her sister's favorite Ballreichs potato chips from the old hometown.

There's a poultry house there, too, where she gets shredded chicken for sandwiches. It's like going "home" again.

So, was there anything left for Molly to bring? Believe me they had this all planned out. Molly brought all of her favorite things from Oryana ... granola, yogurt, juices, chicken, burger, hot dogs, greens and buns from Potter's. She grilled dogs and burgers to have with the greens. My two granddaughters whipped up a cream cheese birthday cake, made salads and did table-setting duty.

And then there's Grandma ... I didn't lift a finger for the whole four days..

I laughed about the coffee-making when I anticipated their visit. They all like a different coffee -- Vicki likes Seattle's Best, Cathy drinks espresso, Molly uses Higher Grounds and Sarah likes Whole Foods Organic but will drink anything, like me. I could visualize three coffeemakers covering every inch of counter space in the kitchen. Not so. We settled for just one pot, but Cathy brought her espresso pot so she could have an occasional booster shot.

My last column prompted some questions about plastics. Many of the plastics we use are debatable for food use. My theory is, if there's a question always err on the side of caution. Don't use it!

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