The Three Fs

The Three F's - Family, Food and Friends

Many of my memories of my own childhood and of the days when our children were young revolve around vacations or a holiday, and it’s no wonder. That’s when far-flung families get together, when “remember the time” is liberally sprinkled through every conversation, when traditions are born – or when they are continued. Even if geographical distance separates us, phones and FaceTime and Facebook and email allow us to reminisce and to share.

My sisters and I live in four different states; while some of our children and grand-children are near, others are not. Yet, in the days leading up to and including Thanksgiving, we all managed to spend time together.

As my sister in New Hampshire wrote, “Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday - the three F's - Family, Friends and Food.” As they prepared a 25 pound turkey, her daughter shared a photo and this thought in Facebook: Thanksgiving 2015 will always be remembered as the year our son weighed the same as the bird! My sister mentioned recipes that she keeps using rather than scan them into the computer. As she said, “Seems like Mom's stuffing recipe would lose something if it was in TIMES NEW ROMAN font.”

My sister in Colorado responded by saying, “I laughed at the thought of Mom's recipes shared over the years. My copy of her stuffing recipe is worn and covered with grease as well, but definitely treasured.”

My sister in New Mexico set tradition aside. Her son is on duty overseas and her daughter and husband timed a vacation so that they could spend the holiday with him. My sister and her husband had dinner with friends – only the second time in 31 years that she has not cooked for thirty! Because of a canceled flight, her kids almost missed their reunion; but thanks to some quick thinking and a long bus ride to catch a different plane, they finally got together – and a new memory that will be shared for years was born.

Our son and his wife entertained friends with a sit-down dinner for 15 and one of my pie recipes that dates back to his childhood. His wife, an excellent cook, would like to experiment and mix it up a bit, but no, they always have to have it and it always has to be made exactly the same way. And now, thanks to her FB share of the recipe, I suspect it’s destined to become part of the traditional menu for many of their friends and family.

As for us, because I took short videos of each step along the way and then made my first “movie” ever by combining them, 2015 will always be remembered as the first year our four-year-old granddaughter helped make the apple pie. She used almost as much flour to roll out the crust as was in the crust itself and took so long to fill the crust that half a cup of syrup formed in the bottom of the bowl of apples. And she will also remember the butter and cinnamon sugar on the left-over crust and will probably make it for her own kids in years to come.

Family, Friends and Food. Yes, memories are made of this.

Breeze by Nikolyn McDonald