The Silver Mixing Bowl

(The Smile I remember~Grandma at the beach with my cousin Emily)

It was Sunday, and Sunday meant a trip to Grandma Margaret's home when I was a child. I would walk in and the entire 1500 square foot home was filled with the aromas of homemade rolls and some sort of roast animal. Grandma was busy in the kitchen banging and stirring. She was also smiling and giggling behind those thick glasses. Maggy was happy and I adored her. We all waited for the rolls to come out of the oven and every time she opened the oven door to that old stove her glasses would fog up and grandma would say something clever like "dag nabit!" I don't know how many batches of rolls this silver bowl held but I knew it was an unbelievable amount and I was so honored the day my mom gave me my Grandma Margaret's mixing bowl. Now every time I pull the bowl out for making bread, salads, carmel corn, and any other tasty morsel, I think of sweet Grandma Margaret in that tiny kitchen whisking, stirring and loving. This bowl has even brought me comfort when the kids have been violently ill. I will not soon forget the night that both boys started to puke at exactly the same hour and continued to through the night and next day every ten minutes. After an extreme sanitizing procedure it bounces back as our popcorn holder for a little family cinema at home. I love to cook, I love food, and I love this bowl. And I miss those sweet hands that filled it with so many wonderful things before me. I sat at the edge of my grandmother's bed, talking to her and holding her hand as she was recovering from a chemotherapy session. We talked about all her wonderful food and she was heartbroken that she would never cook again. Cooking for her was a true expression of love. I hope to carry on that tradition with Grandma's bowl.

(Grandma Margaret, my dad, and aunt Sandy)