We don’t have a huge number of rules at our house. Sometimes the folded clothes aren't put away before we go to bed. Sometimes the clothes aren't even folded. Last night’s dinner dishes might still be found hanging out on the counter until after our morning cup of coffee. And, when the grandchildren are here, clothes, games, and art supplies can be found in every room of our house. None of those things have rules associated with them. So what is important enough for me to make a rule about it? Eating nutritious food, of course.
To make this rule work, I have stocked the house with wholesome foods: fruits, vegetables (homegrown!), whole grains, Oreo milk and yogurt, and Jim’s farm-fresh eggs (until our hens begin to lay). You have to really search to find the cans of condensed milk that I keep for making lemon ice-box pie or the chocolate bars that tide Harvey over when he is watching late night television. So is it any wonder that my granddaughter Kate was mystified when she saw a bowl of Momo Ruby’s Blackberry Dumplings set out for her breakfast? She couldn’t believe it.
I don’t know what happened this morning. I just decided to break the rule. Sometimes you have to do that to show your grandchildren you are still a real person. Kate came in from feeding the chickens with her hands and cheeks icy cold. I had just finished cooking the blackberries, and though I had every intention of fixing eggs before granting a taste of the berries, I decided to do something wrong. I put the warm bowl of berries in front of her and said, “Here’s breakfast.” Wide-eyed, and with a slightly disbelieving grin, she put her cold hands around the warm bowl and began to eat this wonderful treat that has been enjoyed by at least four generations of my family.
Foods like Momo Ruby’s Blackberry Dumplings are known as comfort foods. These are the foods that families incorporate into their history. They are the foods that each generation makes a point of passing on to the next. The recipes may or may not be found in books. Some are known to other families; some are unique to one family.
As Kate ate her berry dumplings, we talked about three recipes that she and her brother Joseph have as comfort foods. From their father, they have Charlotte’s Puffy Pancakes. From their mother, they have two family foods they will learn to cook: Claire’s Cake-Topped Lemon Pudding (better known as “Sick Food” since it was always made for you when you were sick) and Momo Ruby’s Blackberry Dumplings. It is important that she and Joseph know these foods, and that they continue the tradition of connecting their lives and their children with all of the ancestors who kept these foods alive for them.
Maybe that was what happened this morning. Maybe it was time to put aside the rule, at least temporarily, so that the really important rule of honoring your elders and ancestors could be taught and understood. That’s a rule that is a pleasure to follow when it’s only requirement is that you eat and enjoy a bowl of warm blackberry dumplings like Momo Ruby used to make.
