Cooking Memories

We are having roast and potatoes for dinner this evening. Gary was going to put the roast in the crock pot before he left for work but forgot to so I did it when I got up. I posted a picture of the roast on Facebook.  As I was getting the roast ready it brought to mind two people - my daughter Charlie and my father-in-law Red.  

Let me explain.  I think of Charlie because she loves roast and potatoes. Gary also loves roast and potatoes.  Early in our relationship I worked several evenings a week. This meant that the girls and Gary might have dinner at home without me. One such time Gary put a roast in the crock pot and made a big meal of roast, potatoes, carrots and even a pan of brownies for dessert. Due to whatever circumstances came up that day when it was dinner time the only two at home were Gary and Charlie. They ate the entire roast and the entire pan of brownies.!  Not one scrap of leftovers for anyone else to east.  Whenever, we have roast I always think of this.  

I think of Red for an entirely different reason. When Gary and I got married I had been cooking for ever.  I started cooking at home as a kid for our family of eight when I was 12 or 13. So when Gary and his love of cooking came along I embraced it.  He loved to cook - he wanted to cook - no problem for me.  We had been married a year or so when my father-in-law asked me 'Do you even know how to cook?'  LOL -- I can see why he wondered as every meal he ate at our house Gary had prepared.  

Along this same line let me say that whenever I make noodles I always think of my 'other' daughter Lorrie Swigart Scrivner.  She is my 'other' daughter because she lived for us three years while she was in high school.  I called her my red-headed stepchild.  One time when I was making noodles Lorrie Lou wanted to cut them up. We had the strangest looking noodles you have ever seen!  Some where triangle shaped even.  I don't roll up my noodles and cut them. I just roll the dough out and then use a pizza cutter to cut them. I have taught two of my grand kids how to make noodles.  Remington and Lily always like to cut them up. And I always think of Lorrie whenever I see them cutting the noodles.  
Our live has changed since we first got married almost 20 years ago.  I am now cooking more than I did then. Circumstances keep Gary at work more and I have taken over more of the cooking. Although he still loves to cook and does so often. There are certain things that he thinks I actually cook better than him (noodles being one of them).  Our styles of cooking are very different. He loves to experiment and try new things and sometimes even elaborate things. By elaborate I mean it may take many dishes to prepare. I tend to like one dish meals - preferably cooked in foil if at possible so I have less clean up.  That's the lazy in me.  LOL  We have a good system - he does most of the cooking and I set the table.  It works for us.  And from the looks of the two of us, doesn't matter who is doing the cooking - we are both eating it