Remembering Aunt Faye

When I was a child, I had an Aunt that wasn't really an Aunt. You know what I'm talking about? I had a relative that always seemed quite old to me and I was always told that she was our Aunt. My sister and I called her Aunt Faye. Well, I always loved visiting her on the farm that she and Uncle Johnny lived in. I learned later in life that Aunt Faye was a private chef for a fairly wealthy family in Michigan, very near to where I was raised. She became an excellent chef and it's in her memory that I've created this cooking blog. Aunt Faye must have, some how, influenced my life without me ever knowing it and maybe that's why I came to love cooking as much as I have. I've recently discovered that Aunt Faye is really a cousin, once removed. She was my mother's first cousin.

I called my sister over the weekend to let her know that I've started a cooking blog. I asked if she had any of Aunt Faye's recipes. My sister is sending me a book with a collection of recipes that belonged to our aunt. 

I am also receiving pictures of Aunt Faye and additional recipes from my mother's cousin in Austin, Texas. I'm writing this story because I wanted my first recipe to be one of my aunt's. As soon as I receive all of the information about my aunt, I will post photographs and recipes in honor of her, and then I'll begin sharing my extensive collection of what I refer to as "the best of the best" recipes that I have ever made. My collection began in 1974 and I am passionate about collecting, cooking and sharing recipes.

While I was talking to my sister, I mentioned that I believe I became interested in cooking because I didn't think our mother was a very proficient cook. There was a pause in the conversation and my sister said, "I think mother was an average cook". "I always liked the things she cooked". 

I said "mother could cook the life out of a green bean, she would boil them so long that they became grey and mushy". My sister laughed and said that's the way she eats her green beans to this day. I laughed so hard, and realized that my sister had been influenced by mother's cooking.

My mother felt that the only way to efficiently cook anything was to turn the burner on high!

Maybe mother wasn't such a bad cook after all! She just had a different philosophy about it.

So, here I am with a cooking blog, trying to figure out ....... why?  Here's to the memory of my mother and Aunt Faye!

I Love Cast Iron!

I love Cast Iron and I cook in it as much as I can. So...... instead of posting a recipe, because I can't decide which one should be the first, I thought I would show some of my Cast Iron Cookware. And I decided to include our Cast Iron Enamel Stove just for the heck of it  because it's pretty cool,( we don't use it to cook, however, someday we may) so until then it serves it's purpose as an island in the kitchen. Under that enamel top is a very cool cooktop with burners and a griddle surface. It's wood burning so behind the doors are places to fire up the wood and an oven for baking and a bin for the ashes. I also re-purpose my fireplace so that we can cook in it during the winter months.

I need to clarify that I am not Vegan. My recipes will include dairy. I do not eat meat, fowl or seafood and all of my recipes will reflect that. In many of the recipes I will indicate a vegetarian ingredient that may very well be translated into a meat product for those that prefer to add meat. Basically, I don't eat animals, but I don't have an issue with bi-products such as milk and eggs. Some recipes are original and I will make a note of that when they are published.

Today is day 1 of this blog. I'm looking forward to creating and sharing some of the "Best of the Best" recipes that I've collected over the years. I'm always in pursuit of discovering, cooking and tasting recipes that I believe are the best I've ever had.