Learning to Love Food in Nana's Kitchen

I grew up in a household that rarely cooked. What we called dinner was usually picked from the frozen food offerings in the grocery store, which in the 1960s included those Swanson dinners with meatloaf, green beans, and a brownie in the middle. (I was in high school before I realized that not all families chose dinner that way.) Fortunately, my mother's mother--Nana to me--dished out comfort food, cookies, and love from her kitchen just a few hours away.

Nana's Kitchen
My grandmother had a fantasy kitchen long before it was fashionable. Easily as big as her living and dining rooms combined, her kitchen boasted two ovens, a built-in deep fryer, cabinets galore, and yards of shelves to house her pans, cookie sheets, canning jars and a myriad of other cooking supplies. From a Welsh family, she melded the cuisine she knew growing up with German favorites, like sauerbraten and potato pancakes, from my grandfather's past. Each summer and holiday, I was her eager sous-chef, even when I was so little I had to stand on a stool.

Living off the Farm in the 1960s
Sustainable food was an unknown phrase in the 1960s. However, my grandparents and many of their friends practiced the concept without even knowing it. They'd have called it thrifty or just finding good, quality food. Having both grown up on a farm, they were familiar with brown eggs, tomatoes right off the vine and apple cider pressed while you waited, and they patronized the farms near them. Their suburban Indianapolis garden was loaded with purple grapes, red raspberries, cherry tomatoes and corn stalks. As soon as I was able to hold the wooden, woven basket, I was out there picking the garden's bounty--with my grandfather's patient hand to guide me. Some of the raspberries even made it back to the house.

Nana's Chicken and Dumplings
Though my grandmother made dozens of wonderful dishes, her savory chicken and dumplings recipe was always my favorite. Borrowing from my grandfather's eastern German heritage, her dumplings are rolled flat and boiled in chicken stock. She often served this dish on Christmas in place of turkey. Now that she's gone, I continue the tradition by serving it every Thanksgiving for my friends and family. I haven't changed a thing about the recipe; it's a classic.

Nana's Chicken and Dumplings recipe

My fondness for wine came later... but that's another article.