When I think of food...

...which is all the time now that I'm pregnant, I always think of my Grandma. Isn't it funny how a smell can take you back to an exact moment in time? My Grandma was always cooking something it seems like. To this day, the smell of chocolate chip cookies makes me think of her. I can remember her teaching me how to make cookies. She had this great stoneware bowl that we always used to mix the cookies in. We would have such great talks while we were baking together. And of course, she always let me eat as much cookie dough as I wanted!
She also always made the best dinners. Grandma could open her fridge and freezer and make a spectacular dinner that would feed an army. One of my favorites was Hamburger Macaroni. In actuality, it was just goulash, but it always tasted different when she made it. One time when I was in college, I asked her for her recipe. She looked at me with a surprised look and said "Oh, just a little of this and a little of that." So, I made her make if for me. I watched very carefully and wrote down exactly what she put in it. I have tried countless times over the years to make it just like Grandma's, and I just can't do it! It never tastes exactly right.
Ben says I'm a good cook, which I never thought anyone would say about me! I can honestly say that Grandma was the one that taught me how to cook. She always told me "just try it..it'll be fine." Learning to cook was probably the most valuable thing my Grandma taught me. I'm 30 now and have a family of my own, but every single time I cook, I think of her. I can hear her telling me "See, I knew you could do it!"