Things Your Grandma Never Told You But Should Have
by Cookie Curci
Today, many young women are learning their homemaking skills from
watching TV’s domestic guru Martha Stewart, and receiving their sage advice
from Oprah Winfry.
But things were different for my generation; we learned our homemaking skills
and our life lessons at our grandma’s knee.
Unfortunately, many of today’s grandmas are too busy to pass along these
lessons and family traditions are going by the wayside. In many cases,
grandma is known to her grandchildren as the nice lady who shows up on birt
hdays and holidays with a generous gift.
To me, and to a generation of post war baby boomers, the name "Nona" or
Grandmother, meant much, much more. She was the foundation of home and
family, the matriarch from whom knowledge, generosity and personal sacrifice
flowed. The years I spent with her were among my most rewarding, cherished
and domestically educating.
Grandma came to this country as a young immigrant, skilled in the old-world
ways, she was keenly adept in self-reliance and running a household. At age
10, she knew how to create tender pasta and ravioli from a little water,
flour and egg; by the age of 12 she could plow a field, pick the harvest and
pluck a chicken for dinner. Grandma had to know these things, her surfivial
in the old country depended upon it.
Grandma passed on these skills to her daughters and then to her
grandchildren. Under her watchful eye we learned how to stretch the
household budget by growing and preserving fruit and vegetables; we learned
how to plant and sow our seedlings at exactly the right time of the month to
get the best crops and how to use garden herbs for medicinal cures.
One of my favorite memories was watching grandma in her kitchen preparing the
nightly meal. I watched as she mixed a little flour, water and eggs to
create long strands of tender pasta. A few minutes later, bowls of steamy
spaghetti, bathed in rich tomato sauce and covered with grated Parmesan
cheese, was set upon the dinner table.
They say the two best things you can give your child are roots and wings.
Grandma’s traditions gave our family "roots", but her wisdom gave us
"wing’s. Through her gardening skills she taught me many things. She knew
instinctively the bean sprouts that were destined to grow and those that
wouldn’t make it. She would say, "Observe the ones that do not change or
grow, they will die- change and growth generates life". She encouraged me to
apply this philosophy to my own life as well.
In the garden she taught me early on that fish was the best fertilizer for
fruit trees, that cumcumbers and beans catch the best sunlight when planted
near a northern fence and the best time to plant parsley was on Good Friday.
On the Feast of Saint Joseph she insisted on planting her flowering herbs,
such as garlic.
Most everyone knows about garlic’s pungent flavor, and is well aware of this
bulbous preneals reputation. But to grandma, the garlic was irreplaceable. A
relative of the Lily, the huge ball like blooms of the garlic plant are fused
with hundreds of tiny lavender blooms that, like their bulbous root, are rich
in sugar and almost as pungent in fragrance.
Ancient Romans believed strongly in the power and value of garlic and
grandma was no different. She believed it made her skin more beautufl and
smooth, she used it to treat toothaches, sore throats and earaches.
Modern medicine backs up grandma’s belief in the herb. Researchers are
finding that garlic contains allyl , an antibacterial agent that seems to
affect harmful bacteria. Today, many people are taking garlic capsules to
treat the cold virus, diarrhea and poor blood clotting and also to lower
blood pressure.
If grandma loved garlic, then it could be said that she worshipped the
tomato. Her homemade tomato sauce bubbled on the stove like an eternal
volcano. The familiar and mouthwatering aroma of tomato sauce permeated her
kitchen. There are many things that link me to my past, but few rekindle
memories as quickly as the smell of tomato sauce simmering on the stove.
We didn’t know that eating tomatoes was good for us, we just knew that
grandma’s sauce was delicious and we loved it. It wasn‘t until recently that
I discovered the true health benefits of tomatoes in our diet. The tomato has
antioxidant properties of lycopene, a carotenoid found in tomato-based foods.
It is believed that this may reduce the risk of lung cancer by 25 percent as
reported in the American Journal of Clinical nutrition. Cooked tomato
products contain the most lycopene. It is reported in thw journal that
eating at least five 1/2-cup servings of pasta sauce every week may reduce
the risk of lung cancer. Lycopene may protect against intestinal and
prostate cancers too. Grandma’s adoration for the tomato was well placed.
Grandma’s medicine cabinet didn’t include any of today’s treatments or
cure-alls. Whenever a cold or flu came around, grandma set a big pot of water
on to boil tossed in a small chicken, parsley, garlic, herbs and vegetables
Grandma’s curative instincts were right on the mark.
We have come to know now that parsley and garlic contain chlorophyll and
antitoxins, carrots and celery contain vitamin A poultry meat has riboflavin,
niacin and biotin, necessary to utilize oxygen and protein in the body.
Grandma learned her homemaking skills from watching and observing her mother
and grandmother at work in their kitchens, today; this is a luxury that few
households can enjoy. Many women are working right up and past their
retirement years. Many mother’s and daughters are separated by distance, and
because of economics, many families are uprooted and must change locations.
Before turning on that TV set to search for a new recipe, why not try
getting in touch with a senior family member . Do some research on an old
family recipe, one that you fondly remember enjoying as a kid. You may be
surprised at the stories and information you’ll unearth in a dig through
family memories and recipes. If by chance you come up empty handed, don’t be
discouraged, it just means it’s time for you to start some new family
traditions of your own.
Grandma used to say," It just as important to begin new traditions as it is
to uphold the old ones."
Good luck and bon appetite!
Grandma’s Chicken Soup Recipe
3 quarts water
1 whole chicken (washed thoroughly-insides
removed)
1 onion, quartered
4-med. celery stalks
2 chicken bouillon cubes
2 sprigs of parsley (diced) 1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder or
1 whole fresh garlic clove.
1/2 cup carrots, thinly sliced
Using a deep soup pot, submerge whole chicken in water. Add onion,
celery, bouillon, salt and garlic, set parsley aside. Cook all together for 1
hour until chicken is tender. Turn heat off and remove whole chicken from
soup pot. Let cool. Strain soup into clean pot. Press onions and celery
firmly to extract all flavor when pouring through strainer. Put soup pot back
on stove to boil. Add carrots and cook until carrots are tender. Skin and
bone chicken, using only the best part of the chicken. Cut chicken into large
meaty chunks. Add chicken and chopped parsley to soup. Do not bring to a boil
after adding meat, otherwise chicken could become stringy and tough.
Serve with boiled rice, made according to package recipe.
For over 14 years, Cookie Curci wrote a popular nostalgia column for The Willow Glen
Resident. (The Silicon Valley Metro Newspapers...San Jose califonia)
www.metroactive.com. She's currently writing a column called "Looking Back" that
appears monthly in FRA NOI - a Chicago based newspaper. In additon she writes for
"Mature Living" in Toledo, Ohio, "Senior News" in West Virginia and THE WILLOW GLEN TIMES in San Jose. More about Cookie is at On Writing a Nostalgia Column.... If you would like to comment on an article, Cookie can be reached at Cookiecurci@aol.com.
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