#tbt - Memories of my Dad

"You are My Sunshine" and Old Spice aftershave will always be linked for me.  They both take me immediately to my early childhood living in an apartment in Washington, DC with both of my parents.

My father worked in a drug store and went in late every other day.  On those days I remember my dad shaving and dressing all the while humming or singing "You are My Sunshine."  It is such a comforting memory.  I always link that song with him.

There were other songs as well.  My dad loved Elvis but the Elvis of spiritual songs.  My dad's favorite was "Peace in the Valley."  He did a pretty good Elvis sound when he sang along.  It's funny what memories come with songs and smells. 

Every now and then those songs just spring into my head.  I figure my dad is close at hand.

#tbt - First Love

Pool parties were a big thing the summer I turned 15.  The Officer's Club at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, DC hosted one every week and two boys (brothers) from my church loved to go.  Lucky for me, they would always invite me and my friend.  At first it was just a friendly thing, but eventually it became clear these were "dates."

It was one of the best summers of my teenage years.  I loved those nights at the pool and the band and the music.  I don't know what the band was or even if it was the same band but they covered all the popular songs.

"Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones was a hit that summer and it was the one song everyone wanted to hear.  I loved dancing to that.  My boyfriend was so funny and while I tried to do just the right dance, he let the music carry him.  Even when we were going on other dates, if that song came on the radio, he would jump and shake.

Whenever I hear that song, I am immediately transported to that pool on a warm summer night in 1965.  I think of Richard and I smile.

Ultimate Classic Rock

from Amazon.com

Songs Revisited

Picture from Wikipedia.

Are you like me?  Do you hate it when a song gets stuck in your brain?  Yesterday I heard a song by Herman's Hermits and now the first two lines of the song are playing over and over (and over and over) in my mind.

"She's a Must to Avoid, a complete impossibility..." over and over.  There are a few things that are funny and odd about this.  When I heard the song yesterday, I was excited.  I like the song.  I was able to sing along.  It's just now I can't forget it.

My teen years began simultaneously with the British Invasion.  I watched The Beatles on Ed Sullivan along with half the free world.  I never felt animosity to other British bands just because I loved the Beatles.  

I think I had several albums by Herman's Hermits.  This song was one of my favorites along with "I'm Henry the Eighth" and "Silhouettes on the Shade." I really did like most of the rest.  I wish I still had all my albums.  They are probably lost in the basement of my parents old home.  I hope the subsequent owners enjoyed them.

One other curiosity about this song is that I always had the lyrics wrong.  I always thought he was singing "She's a must for a boy...." which changes the entire drift of the song!  Imagine learning the correct version just when my family thinks I can't hear!

#tbt - Turn Back Thursday

Recently, I have started listening to "The 60s on 6" on my satellite car radio.  I usually listen to all news stations but the election is killing me.  I need to go back in time - at least for a while.

Monday was a beautiful day and I was off to spend the day with my daughter in law who was having work done in their home.  My car windows were down and the radio was loud.  The next song up took me back to the backyard of the house where I lived as a teenager.

"Windy" by the Association was a favorite.  It was light and energetic and still reminds me of the summer.  

The song reach number one in 1966 and was the second hit by the group.  The first was Cherish.  I love that song too.  I have read that the song was written by a women and Windy was originally meant to be a guy but the producer changed the gender and then the tempo and it was a hit.This link The Association Song clips will take you to "Songfacts" and you can hear Windy and a few other of their hits.  

Photo from Songfacts site.

I can't believe that I am "throwing back" so many years ago.  Does anyone else still feel 16?

Comfort Food

Already I am hungry simply thinking about comfort food.  I wonder exactly what comfort food is.  For me that is redundant.  Food = Comfort.  Sweet, salty, greasy, broiled, boiled, fried, raw. But, technically, I guess, there is a category of food labeled as "comfort food."  

Comfort Food:  food which provides a nostalgic or sentimental feeling to the consumer: food associated with the security of childhood.  That opens up a vast territory for me.  Simply smelling some things bring me fond memories from both sides of the family.

Frying bacon and sausage along with brewing coffee takes me to early mornings in Linville, Virginia at my great grandmother's house my father's grandmother.  I can close my eyes an be right there.
Summer mornings a traditional vacation.

Hot Lipton Tea with cream and sugar and a meal of Swiss steak, mashed potatoes, and stewed tomatoes takes me to the kitchen of my grandparents on my mother's side.  Mimmy's spice cake with lemon frosting is still my favorite.

I am not a very good cook but my specialties are the things from my past - my comfort food.

• vegetable soup
• chicken with rice soup
• pot roast with carrots and potatoes (my mother's side)
• pot roast with egg noodles (my dad's)
• meat loaf with tomato sauce
• ham and cabbage
• turkey and dressing

This is my repertoire of recipes.  If you want dinner at my house these will be the "go to" choices.  To say I have a recipe is misleading.  I just know what to do and move on from there.  Bread and real butter goes with everything.  It will be white bread or brown and serve rolls.  A "treat" would be Italian bread or bakery rolls.

Comfort lunches are usually sandwiches on white bread.  My favorite school box lunch was a tuna salad sandwich no lettuce or tomato just the tuna and plenty of mayonnaise.  Egg salad is another good choice for school, but a snow day lunch would be grilled cheese with tomato soup.  That soup was a Campbell's special and to spruce it up, sometimes my mom would add cubes of cheddar cheese.  It was soooo gooey good.

What is comfort without some sweets?  My favorite cake is the spice cake with lemon frosting but yellow cake with dark chocolate frosting and a large glass of milk is a very close second.  My mother's fudge recipe is committed to memory.  Family members treasure gifts of that fudge.  Truly a family secret.  My aunt made the best chocolate chip cookies that I can not duplicate but mine are ok.  They will do in a pinch.

Finally, the one food everyone in my family wants and looks forward to is deviled eggs.  My father made the best.  Mine are hit or miss.  I can't always get the right vinegary zip.  My brother's come closest to my dad's.  The problem with making deviled eggs is that there is a lot of work for the finished product to be gone so soon.  They never last.  We fight over those eggs almost as hard as we fight over the crisp turkey skin but that Thanksgiving story is for another day.  Now I am uncomfortably hungry thinking about comfort food.