It’s funny that as I write about cooking and quilts and such, that my families (mine and my husband’s) have at least one thing in common, a passion for fabric, linen, tea towels, serviettes.
Here I am showcasing their works and am proud to do so. A few weeks ago I found my great-grandmother’s linen-embroidered scalloped tablecloth that had yellowed. I washed it and hung it to dry and it looks great, just needs ironing.
Jim’s mother has gifted us with quilts and other linens over the years, that are treasured.
But more about room picnics. As a kid, we had four maternal cousins and three aunts and Papa. When 14 of us met every summer (we lived about 8 hours away) we always had one meal in the room.
My aunts would cook for days and bring coolers with food and beverages and we always had “serviettes,” cloth napkins, even though we might be at the local Holiday Inn or some variety thereof with a pool so we could swim ourselves silly.
My father hated room picnics. He’d rather have waitress service downstairs. I have fond memories of them. We were usually in our swimsuits, toweled dry and came to eat a few morsels before going back to the pool.
Sorry, Dad, you once said that all we talked about was food. What was for lunch, where are we eating dinner? Now you cook. You know your favorite restaurants in every city and you eat well. Your eldest daughter (moi) trained as a chef.
What is life if one doesn’t look forward to eating the next meal? And what else is there to talk about with 14 for dinner, on vacation?
It’s a joy to talk about recipes et al with family and friends, and to prepare meals that delight guests. It’s wonderful to have an arsenal of serviettes and torchons and tea towels and tablecloths. And quilts as conversation pieces and prized art.
When we look for hotels, depends with/without dog, but we like a place with a safe for our laptops, a real 1/2 frig for breakfast items, and choosing a pillow is a good thing. Thanks, Martha, for your birdcage curtain/quilt rods. Cheers, Dee
Cooking with Dee 