My kids will never meet their grandma, but her stew will nourish them forever.
When my oldest daughter started school a few years ago, I decided it was time to restart the tradition. Even though I hadn't found my mother's goulash, my newfangled version soon became one of my daughter's favorites.the kind with a hard cover and removable pages bound together by a coil spine. I had searched for this cookbook so many times looking for that goulash recipe, and now, 20 years after my mother's passing, here it was right in front of me.
The Betty Crocker recipe was so much simpler than what I had been making. I had been using the classic beef stew approach, dipping chunks of meat into a seasoned flour, searing them, and then removing them from the pan to make a sauce, whereas my mother’s recipe just simmered all of the ingredients together in one pan.I was happy to find that my memory hadn’t entirely failed me because: Ketchup was indeed involved, as were onions and dried mustard.
The funny thing is, after so much time and preoccupation trying to find my mother’s recipe, I might stick to the version I’ve created myself. Because I realize it’s not just about the exact list of ingredients or method. The search to recreate this particular dish was itself the point: my effort to bring her back in some way, by finding that old taste of my childhood so I could share it with my own family years later.
My children will never know my mom, and of course this makes me sad. But they do get to experience a small piece of her, and my love for her, through this dish. My mother only made goulash once a year, but whenever my daughters ask for it, I oblige. I want them to remember every detail.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Bachelor Nation Reacts to Christian Estrada and Jordan Kimball's FightExclusive! BachelorNation has a lot to say about that fight on BachelorInParadise: 'It was so intense and so scary. Somebody was falling down the stairs. The next person was running after the other. And then I see security.'
Read more »
Besieged Kashmiri neighborhood in test of wills with India's ModiThe young men of Soura, a densely populated enclave in Kashmir's main city of Srinagar, have been taking turns to maintain an around-the-clock vigil at the entry points to their neighborhood to keep Indian security forces out of the area. Read more:
Read more »
Here are the best ways to secure important financial documentsEstate-planning documents — such as wills, trusts, living wills, medical directives and powers of attorney — are very important, and so is keeping them protected and stored safely. Here are some key tips on what to do to keep them secure.
Read more »
A Party Room and a Prison Cell: Inside the Friends Writer’s RoomThe Friends writers’ room was simultaneously a party room and a prison cell. Read an excerpt from saulausterlitz's book 'Generation Friends'
Read more »
21 '00s Pop Culture Moments That Made Me GayAnd life was forever gay from then.
Read more »
These Are The Best, Coziest Cocktails to Drink During FallCozy drinks forever.
Read more »