Party of Eight

My mother loved to entertain. She needed little reason to throw a

party. She decorated for every holiday, including Lincoln's birthday

before it was turned into President's Day. Whoever showed up for

a visit was reason enough for her to put out food and celebrate.

She was not a gourmet cook, but she loved all types of food. For her,

any meal could be an adventure to another country. She loved Chinese

food, seafood, Italian and good old-fashioned American dishes. Over

the years she worked in many restaurants as a cook or waitress and

even owned a couple of small cafés.

Mom was also a talented baker and cake decorator. Her signature

cookie was oatmeal chocolate chip (no nuts). She would make doll

cakes for my birthday. Her wedding cakes were lovely. She had all the

decorating tools, including round cake pans for the main cake and a

large sheet cake pan. (I still have the cake pans.)

She taught me to cook, not by direct instruction but by example.

When I was about nine years old, I cooked my own first meal: a toasted

cheese sandwich to accompany Campbell's tomato soup. I still love

both, but now I make the sandwich bread from scratch and the soup

from homegrown tomatoes.