At first I was going to do a brunch theme but that’s just plain lazy, I’ve got something else in mind today. My mother hated to cook and she wasn’t good at it. She readily admitted these things and didn’t try to pretend that she was good at it, although she did have a few dishes in her wheelhouse that were good it still was not one of those things she spent a lot of time or took much pride in. Dad did all the holiday cooking and his quantities were always to feed a minimum of 12 people, he could never scale it down to regular family meals. Food wasn’t really mom’s thing, she was happy with it as long as it got to the table hot. As a result my sister and I got to be really good at cooking and take our food seriously to this day. In her defense I was a picky, pain in the ass eater as a kid, when I went off to college all that changed. In a roundabout way I really do have to say, “Thanks Mom!” because I may have taken good food for granted if it came to me too easily. These days she’s in a nursing home with dementia and one of the things she likes to joke about when I visit is how bad of a cook she was and how happy she is that she doesn’t have to do it anymore. She enjoys the institutional food they put in front of her and always cleans her plate so go Ma!

How about you all? What did you eat growing up and how does it impact the way you approach/prepare food these days? Also if you are brunching today I hope you’re taking pictures!