I been thinking about my Grandma Duke today. She was an interesting woman. I wish I had payed more attention to things she did and said when I was younger. She was a fabulous cook and very family oriented.
We would go to her house on Sundays after she went to church and have a wonderful lunch that she cooked ..... usually from scratch ..... of Goulash or Barbecue Chicken in a paper bag with Green Beans, Creamed Corn, and Coconut Cake. That was the lunches I remember most. Her version of Goulash was alot like Spaghetti but different. I would give anything for that recipe. She made the best Coconut Cake and Homemade Boiled Custard for Christmas.
When I was really young and we would go over for dinner or lunch and I usually didn't like what she had spent all day cooking so she would make me Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. Dad would fuss at her and ask her why she didn't do that for him when he was little. She said "Cause you weren't my Grandchild."
On weekends that I would spend the night she would spoil me and let me do things like bake cookies and pies and cause I was little she had a stool that I had to stand on so I could reach the counter tops. She let me have cereal for breakfast that Mom had forbid which I always thought was funny. I hated the TV shows that she would watch. They were boring back then. I never saw her watch anything but Hee Haw, Lawernce Welck, the Andy Griffin Show or some preacher.
I miss the old ways that she would do things, the old aprons that she wore and the way that her house smelled. And the lesson that I have learned from these memories is to pay more attention to my Mom and Mom-n-law so that when I miss them, I will have better memories of their ways and not wish I had done better. And when I become a Grandma....to make sure I spoil them just like she did me.
