WIP: Grandma's Kitchen, Part Deux

So work continues on Grandma's Kitchen.  I am done with my blocks! 

Ooh. Aahh.

Last time I got requests for more stories behind the blocks.  You asked, you get!

First row, first block: Sunday Dinner
This block is pretty self-explanatory...it's about memories of Sunday dinners.  With Grandma Henderson, it wasn't Sundays, it was Saturday night hamburgers.  She LOVED a good hamburger and boy did she makes delicious ones!  Grandma Bowden was not a great cook.  Remember how I vaguely mentioned the great porkchop incident in my last Grandma's Kitchen post? Well.  Those porckhops doubled as home defense.  They were so tough if you smacked home invader in the face with one, they would get a concussion.  She tried though and that's what counts!  She did make good potatoes and gravy, and canned hella veggies.

First row, second block: Salt and Pepper
For this block, Pat reminisced about the salt and pepper shakers at her grandma's house, because they were unique.  My grandmas both had very plain, basic salt and pepper shakers.  every now and then, Grandma Henderson would use the salt and pepper shakers that came with her dish set, only to remember the salt comes out like half the bottle at once and then change back to the regular ones.

First row, third block: Game Show and Soaps
Pat's grandmother loved game shows. Mine?  Not so much.  Grandma Bowden, for reasons beyond my comprehension, LOVED watching golf.  Yes.  Golf. Soft clapping, pastel wearing, rich bitch golf.  To my awareness, she didn't golf herself.  Of course, she passed when I was 16 so I didn't know her hugely well.  Maybe she had a secret golf career.  Or maybe she had a gambling ring.  I don't know!  Grandma Henderson was into movies and TV series, not game shows.  Mysteries and crime dramas were her thing.  She loved Monk and Bones.  She also loved Dancing in the Rain, A Town Called Alice, and True Grit when John Wayne said "Fill your hands you son of a bitch!"

First row, fourth block: Small Change
This was about how her grandma's used to give her mother change as a kid to go spend at the corner store...and how she was given change to save up.  Grandma Bowden didn't do this.  For ... reasons.  Great Grandma Bowden had a jar of pennies she kept around when I was a toddler because I liked to play with them.  Grandma Henderson would always give Myke and I whatever dollar coins were going around at the time.  I still have $10 in Sacajawea dollars she gave me like 15 years ago.  I will never spend them.

First row, fifth block: Pantry Goods
This one was about stocking up for the winter or for bake sales, and how the pantry was always full.  Grandma Bowden, like I said, hella canned and ALWAYS had leftovers.  Grandpa would always have them for lunch after working on his truck or in the backyard all morning.  Grandma Henderson always had c h o c o l a t e. 

Second row, first block: The Fridge
Pat's grandmas had distinctive fridges. Mine had regular.  Moving on!

Second row, second block:  Mending Basket
This is self explanatory...it's about a grandma's literal mending basket. I don't remember if Grandma Bowden had one, but she did have TONS of crochet stuff.  She would watch golf, and crochet, crochet, crochet without even looking.  She tried to teach me but uh...whelp, I don't crochet.  Grandma Henderson had a sewing basket in the guest room, but I never saw her use it. 

Second row, third block:  Lovely Dishes
Every grandma had her dishes. Grandma Henderson had grey and blue Pfalzgraf ceramic dishes with a heart in the middle.  Grandma Bowden had  smattering of different ones...white and blue, cream and gold.  All lightweight glass or thin ceramic. 

Second row, fourth block:  Pick a Posey
Some grandmas garden, some don't.  Mine did.  Grandma Bowden grew strawberries, blackberries, tomatoes, grapes, three different kinds of cherries, three different kinds of peaches, and apples once upon a time.  Grandpa grew poppies.  Grandma Henderson grew flowers...roses, tulips, rhodies, lilacs, peonies...

Second row, fifth block:  That One Item
This is about the one item that triggers the most fond memories of one's grandmas.  Well, I've been trying to be upbeat through these articles, but it is probably apparent by now that the relationships I had with both grandmas were quite different.  It's hard to pinpoint an item from Grandma Bowden that inherently, on its own, triggers positive memories - there weren't many of those with her, unfortunately.  If I had to pick something, it would be her Michael and Gabriel figurines.  She collected Seraphim Angels and I gave her those two and she seems to like them.  Bu with Grandma Henderson it's hard to narrow it down...she was very dear to me.  I guess if I HAD to pick it would be the weird bells she kept in the camel chest.  They were about 2" or 3" tall and thick metal but they looked like they were forged by hand not by a mold because they had imperfections.  They had funky little loops and were red, green, and gold.  I don't know where they were from or why she had them. 

Third row, first block:  Telephone Time
What kind of telephone did your grandma have?  Regular. 

Third row, second block:  Grandma's Purse
A grandma's purse is iconic.  Like, you KNOW your grandma's purse.  Grandma Henderson was particular and loved her red purses.  For several years before her passing, Grandma Bowden was ill and largely homebound.  I don't remember her purse because I don't think she had much need for one for several years.

Third row, third block:  Famous Cookies
Oh my God.  Those home made cookie though. Grandma Henderson made the best chocolate drop cookies!  They were cakey and wonderful.  Mine always come out dry and crumbly. 


On a totally unrelated note, I am watching Gabriel Iglesias (LOVE that dude) and I had no idea he was on All That.  Sure the frig enough.