Two Southern Ladies

My love of the kitchen was molded by two southern ladies, my mother and my grandmother. Mama and Ma-ma, today, Mother's Day, I think of them both.

As a child, and still today, I am a mama's boy, from my earliest memories I was with her whenever the opportunity arose. She is the greatest influence on my life. Growing up, mother was often sick and in the hospital, when she wasn't with me I was usually with ma-ma.

I can remember sitting at the kitchen table while ma-ma prepared lunch or supper, there was always something cooking in her kitchen and the aromas would fill the house with the smell of vegetables straight from the garden. Ma-ma was also an amazing baker, from her I learned to love watching the cake rise in a pan or how to dollop sugar cookies just so.

Mama was a stickler for making sure the family all sat down together at supper time. She was a teacher and would come home every afternoon to prepare a full meal. Meat, two vegetables and biscuits. Mama's biscuits weren't from a can, she would roll the dough every day and cut them out using an empty Vienna Sausage can so that each one was the same size and thickness.

Often on Sundays we could travel to ma-ma's house, about 30 minutes away, for lunch. On those occasions you could always count on the good china and white linen table cloth being on the dining room table. When we gathered together it was meant to be something special, not just an ordinary meal but one to be shared with family.... the best kind of meal.

When my ma-ma passed, I got that old dining room set for my own, today I use it to entertain my friends and family on. Like ma-ma and mama, whenever friends or family are here for a meal, it is meant to be an occasion, with the nice plates, a table scape and linens, after all it isn't just any meal but one to be shared with those you love.

Thank you mama and ma-ma for your love of the kitchen, your love of tradition and your love of family.

I miss my ma-ma and celebrate my mama every day.