Take Me Back Tuesday: A Heart Warming Moment

This past weekend was one of the best ones we have had in a while. It was a wonderful fall weekend and both of our kids were home. Each one had their own agenda for the weekend of course, but for a little while over the weekend stretch, they were both here and it was great. Perfect weather, baseball, good food, and the kids. Perfect.

And in knowing that they would both be here at the same time, it was a must to decide what each one would love to eat. Luckily, that was a pretty easy choice. We had homemade Mexican food....which is a staple in our family for years and years. These dishes were passed down from my great grandma and it is something we all enjoy. The meal is rather simple, cheese enchiladas and tacos...but the tacos are far from traditional really, they are wonderful and I am sure full of calories, but no one seems to mind. The enchilada sauce is made from scratch, just like my grandma made it, and just like she learned to make it from her mother in law, my great grandma.

On Saturday afternoon, I was in the kitchen cooking when the kids showed up. I was cooking and in the process of grating cheese for the enchiladas by hand...yes, I do that, don't even own a food processor, when one of them came in the kitchen to steal a bit of grated cheese out of the bowl. This is so hard to resist and I guess the cheese always taste better freshly grated. At least in my memories that was the case....I used to steal the cheese too when I was growing up.

For an instant, a image flashed in my mind of years and years ago when it was me entering my grandma's kitchen and stealing the cheese out of the bowl. I thought about how I would snatch several bites and she never minded one bit. I thought about when it was her cooking this Mexican meal for her family coming to visit. For an instant, I was transported back over 40 years ago to the smells, love and warmth of her kitchen and it washed all over me. It was fleeting, but it came none the less. It was surreal.

The rest of the afternoon flew by, but several times I thought about what had happened in my kitchen earlier in the day. It reinforced traditions being important in families, and holding on to the important things like family recipes and memories to pass along to the next generation. I'd like to think that in that fleeting moment earlier in the day that my grandma also felt it too, that she would be so proud that I cared enough to learn these dishes and know that I can never prepare them without the wonderful memories of her and her love coming to mind.

This take me back Tuesday, for me is about a heart warming moment over a perfect weekend and getting a glimpse of how life can come full circle sometimes when we least expect it. Now, I just have to get one of my kids in the kitchen to learn how to make this food.....the traditions can not stop with me.....they better be ready for a cooking lesson or two!!