Cravings during pregnacy

I was just talking to a freind and the subject of pregnancy and cravings came up; all the weird and unusual stuff we wanted. With Davina, it was H. Salt Fish and chips, Paul was mint ice cream, with chocolate syrup, I could not find it because he was a summer baby, so I would break mints up and sprinkle them in stir, and top it off with chocolate sauce. I also like Chinese food too! Bobby, poor baby was starved; we lived in N.C. and ex, would not work, he only drank with his cousins; I worked, at a steak house, but was too sick to eat. So it was no surprize that Bobby seemed to never get enough to eat. Kenny, was chili--chili burgers, hotdogs, yellow chilis wrapped in warm tortillas--the hotter the better; and never heartburn! Mike was really weird; I loved the smell of tar--
Jacque was anything sour; I once ate lemons and sour crout together!
Ricky was another strange one; I craved lots of juices, cinnimon anything, and oreo cookies! Lots and lots of those...the ice cream sandwiches where my favorites!

Squishy

I got the biggest kick out of her last night; she is too cute. she fights her sleep just like the rest of my kids did--with a purple passion! Anyway, here she was in her baby bucket, trying hard NOT to go to sleep, her new Winnie the Pooh bear and favorite monkey close at hand. Which one to chose; that was the question? She'd lay on one and then the other back and forth one and then the other-- it was a struggle for her one could see. Soon, grabbing both close she plopped her tired little face onto them , took a deep heavy sigh and--crashed--hard! It was over, the struggle for sleep had won! Mr. Sandman had won his battle for the night. I love to watch these little battles ya know...they are so interesting and thought provoking too. Babies are remarkable little creatures, so smart and full of life! I'm so glad I have this time to enjoy her...I missed out with her mommy always having to work and pay the bills and such. I guess that's why God gave us grandbabies.

In Memory of—abuela’s cocina

I came from mixed parents; my mother is of Mexican-American decent; my grandmother often told me, we are Mexican by heritage and American by choice. My foundest memories will always be in the kitchen of my grandmother. The warm,tender, loving hands, that guided me through life and made me who I am today. My grandparents are very responsible for my strength and most of all for my love for God. They instilled in me some very strong morals and ethics and taught me abut loving your neighbor and how when you do this you are showing your love for God. I learned many wonderful lessons in la cocina of my abuela she was a wonderful woman with great insight and wisdom. I wanted so much to be just like her in so many ways! Gracias abuela mia, gracias, per todo--

This is only one poem I dedicate to her:

To Soledad Maria Baird Fresquez The queen of my heart... She was more than my grandmother to me and to my siblings, she was our mother.

In memory of—

Tortillas hot with melted butter

Making tamales in an assemble line…

Dripping chili through your fingers

as you bite a fully packed

drenched burrito

abuela’s cocina

Chocolate’ e pan de huevo

On those special occations…

Menudo hot and spicy

Just a tuch of lime for zip!

Quiet moments, alone

abuela’s cocina

Immigrants, who came

To give life to generations…

Such love, devotion,

Faith in God They taught me—

He is the ultimate reason

I was in…

abuela’s cocina

Flop Cake

Thinking back to a simpler time; to a moment in my history when life was well, more relaxed yet, it could have been a more complex time as well. At ten years old I had more responsiblilities and more to do than most adults today. It's odd that I never felt overwhelemed or like I couldn't handle it either! In those days we never questioned it, we couldn't we just did it! I knew how to diaper a baby while I was a mere baby myself, I learned how to cook at age five; my mother taught me out of shear self-preservation! I made the entire house smell like smoky sickening sweet ginger snaps. I wanted to make her and my siblings breakfast and decided to fry them on an iron skillet. Well, at the tender age of five, ginger snap cookies closely resembled pancakes without the hassle--I thought, anyway. My poor pregnant mother on the other hand...did not. So, she made a huge decision to teach her five year old how to cook. It did pay off in the end, and I have to say, my husband reaps the rewards today. Hehehehe. So, I just wanted to let any children out there who bakes or cooks to know, that even the slightest cooking disaster can be a memerable treat. My flop cake is still enjoyed today.


I was a mere gangly ten year old, and in charge of not only my nine siblings for the evening but my mother's gal friend's children as well when they went out. They were all recently divorcees and had left me in charge. It was the late 1960's and by then, I knew how to cook, clean, and bathe my siblings and yes, even maintain a home pretty darned well for a young girl.Well, the children had already had supper and had been promised a nice dessert of chocolate cake as long as they behaved themselves. In our day, desset was not an every day delight; it was given as a once in a while treat, so the anticipation was thick in the small livingroom filled with starving drooling faces. The odor of dutch chocolate permiated the entire house, it captivated those little faces and they were absolutly salivating in anticipation!I listened for the ding of my little timer, and quickly went to remove the huge cake from my O'Keefe and Merit Gas range, just as I was trying to gently take it out, my youngest brother darted by, as I pivited to manouver my way away from him the cake slid and it fell onto the table falling up-side-down crumbling all over the table top!Knowing that I was going to have fifteen very upset little ones I put my hands on my face and thought for a moment-- Soon, I went for a box of pudding, some milk, and the stove, I cooked the chocolate pudding and scooped the messy cake into bowls and dribbled pudding all over the cake. Then I took dream whip and spooned some on top of that! The children thought they had a wonderful new treat! I called it Flop Cake! I can not tell you how often they asked me to repeat this treasure never knowing it was just a mistake.