Smells

It's a sunny afternoon in the mid 50's – fall has definitely arrived! A fresh pot of coffee is brewing and the Food Network is on the TV. I enjoy cooking in the fall – well, truthfully, I enjoy cooking all year round. But there's something really comforting about the fall cooking smells.

Yesterday morning was agonizing as we smelled a ham baking in the oven. By the time I threw in some potatoes, carrots, and onions to roast, there was a feeling that lunchtime wouldn't arrive soon enough! Even the leftovers today smelled good as they heated in the microwave.

Son posted on Facebook that he made his first pot of chili yesterday – his Grandma posted that she wished she had some of it. I don't think she knew what she was saying – Son's chili is absolutely lethal! I think he's long since killed his taste buds, and maybe his stomach as well, because he loves spicy food. Even his 15-year-old, who loves to keep up with dad, couldn't handle yesterday's chili after toning it down with half a bottle of ketchup!

Kitchen smells can stir up such memories. I loved going in for lunch at school when I could smell the yeasty aroma of hot rolls.....our cooks' hot rolls were the best, and they were always served with hash. The smell of salmon patties cooking always reminds me of my maternal grandmother. Memories of the other grandmother are stirred by the smell of cinnamon coffeecake or baking applesauce cake. She would make those at our house for the holidays.

There were many Sunday mornings growing up on the farm when I would wake up smelling roast beef cooking for lunch. Often when we were having fried chicken for Sunday lunch, Dad would have that ready and it was nice to walk in from church smelling lunch ready to eat.

For the first 20 years of my adult life, we moved frequently and lived in many different areas of the country. Growing up in the middle like I did, our normal eating schedule was breakfast in the morning, dinner at noon, and supper in the evening. As with most farm families, our large meal was midday. Once I got away from home, it only took one near-faux pas for me to change my method of referring to meals. Breakfast is still in the morning – but I learned it's so much safer to have lunch at noon and supper at night – and completely eliminate “dinner” from my eating schedule!! (Unless, of course, I'm with my in-laws on the West Coast.......I don't think you eat “supper” in San Francisco!) I was just fortunate that I coordinated my arrival time for a “dinner” invitation with the host, otherwise I would have showed up for the wrong meal! That would have been really embarrassing.

Younger daughter sent out an email yesterday about the annual family thanksgiving dinner. It doesn't seem like it should only be a few short weeks away, but the calendar verifies it is. Reading through that email and the menu of dishes really jump starts the “food smell” memory banks! Seems like I can already smell the stuffing baking in the oven!