Bebe and me, 1983
I know that Bebe cooked many meals in her lifetime, but I actually don't have too many memories of her particular recipes. Off the top of my head, I can only recall the pot roast and her stuffed artichokes. Her kitchen in Long Beach, NY, was tiny and not conducive to more than one cook. So, I never really helped her in the kitchen much. Later in the week, I'll share my grandmother's Ginger Snap pot roast recipe, but for now I'll just give y'all a peek into my family's kitchen and dining room. Here's a brief list of my childhood favorites.
1) Jello pudding pops - loved by Bill Cosby and the Hutt grandchildren. I'm sure most of my clothing had stains from these fast-melting treats. They no longer make these *cries and cries,* but click here for a recipe of the homemade version.
2) Tree top (?) apple juice in the small cans with the sticker pull tab - the perfect amount of apple juice for this former juice fiend.
3) Olives, pickles, and anything else related to those two food groups. My grandparents' supply of these is second only to the Olive bar at Whole Foods. How many young kids do you know who love kosher dill pickles and kalamata olives? I've only met a few and they're all related to me.
4) Bagels and lox - I'm not a fan of lox and I get a lot of flak for this in my family, but I'll eat a whole, gigantic NY bagel with gobs of cream cheese to prove that I'm serious about breakfast.
5) Coffee - Regular is available at all hours of the day in varying degrees of freshness and temperature.
6) Candy - Ah, the constant availability of M&M's, Dove chocolate, and York peppermint patties drove my mother nuts. Bebe and Pop-pop always have a little bowl of at least one of these candies out. As a kid, I was very adept at taking from these bowls when my mother wasn't looking. In fact, all the Hutt grandchildren have reached an advanced skill level for surreptitiously eating small amounts of candy when our mothers aren't looking. Sorry, Stefan and Mikey - the gig is up.
7) Those little boxes of General Mills, or Kellogg's, cereal that come in a variety pack. I lived for those as a kid. LIVED FOR THEM!!!!
8) Brie (and Jarlsburg, and Cheddar, and on and on) - Pop-pop has discovered in the last few years, or maybe earlier, that brie on bagels is pretty freaking fantastic.
*Side story: I once showed Pop-pop that the best way to soften brie from the fridge is to microwave a plate (just the plate) and then place the brie on the warmed plate for a few minutes on the counter. It's a gentle way to warm the brie without actually nuking it (God forbid!). Pop-pop was very impressed and I got lots of kudos the rest of the morning!
9) Salmon patties with Spanish olives. I can't remember if Pop-pop ever made these at the Long Beach house, but he made them for me when he and Bebe lived down here in Louisiana for a few months when I was 13-14 years old. My love for these is natural (please see #3).
10) Beer - Pop-pop would poor a little of his Heineken into a juice cup for me when I was a kid (my mother just learned of this - I guess she thought it was apple juice). Since Bebe was drinking her White Zin from a juice cup too, I felt pretty grown up while I sipped my 2 ounces of beer.
I'm sure my cousins (Angelica, Arielle, Sasha, Stefan, and Michael) have many of their own particular memories, but these are the ones that are most prevalent in my mind right now.
I think everyone should add your favorite grand-parent related food memories in the comments section!
