AND THEN AGAIN…….by Tamara Pettit

……Throughout the county, heck maybe the world even, a holiday tradition took place this past week.  This tradition is usually passed by from mother to child, but sometimes other relatives or close friends get in on the act.

……It takes place when a new food is baked or cooked during the holiday season. Sometimes it’s a cookie found in an old cookbook.  When introduced to the family some kind offspring utters the words “this is good.”    The kind kid’s siblings look at him/her in disbelief.  This cookie is not good.  It’s doughy and tasteless and maybe, would be good in a cookie fight if your purpose was to maim your brother.

……But it’s too late.  The mother has heard the dreaded “good” word and let’s face it, every mother wants to start tradition in a food which will outlive her by making its reappearance at holidays events for generations to come.

…….Such was the case with the dreaded “Stop & Go” cookies which were my Mom’s specialty and every grandkid’s favorite…..or so she thought. My Mom was not a good cook. There I’ve said it and it seems blasphemous even as I speak. Your mom is supposed to be a good cook. It’s written in the Mom manual, but once in awhile, a mom just didn’t get the memo. So, my Mom was delighted when she dumped a package of green and red M&Ms into cookie dough one holiday season. Thus were born her “stop and go” cookies. It became her specialty.

……..The seven grandkids (five of Marsha’s and two of mine) all denied ever telling Gramma they liked the cookie and  pledged to find that kid who did and hurt him.  (For some reason it was always felt it was one of the boys, they were nicer to Gramma.)   Although, it was never proven and he denied he had ever uttered the words, suspicion always felt on Brian Webster.  He was the kind kid and would have done anything to make Gramma happy. Gramma began to expand those cookies beyond holidays when the grandkids left home. The cookies were her way of sending love. Those cookies went to the White House when Matthew was in the Secret Service.  Susan received them on a regular basis when in nursing school. Shannon got them at Bethany and then WVU.  Douglas reported receiving them when in law school and they later traveled cross country to San Diego.  The cookies didn’t go to waste though,   The kids adopted the practice of putting them in a public place with a sign “free.”

…….I was going through the old cookbooks recently searching for a recipe.    I came upon the original stop and go cookie recipe on an Index Card in my Mom’s handwriting and I reflected that each one of those grandchildren would give a fortune to have those stop and go cookies and Gramma back.   Since Brian the kind kid, has also passed, I like to think he is in Heaven with Gramma where she is feeding him “Stop and Go” cookies and he is saying, “These are really good Gramma!”

……..Which brings me to my “mandarin orange salad.”    I found the recipe in a 1992 Southern Living cookbook.    The lettuce is joined by mandarin oranges and caramelized almonds.  The oil and vinegar dressing has sugar and five drops of hot sauce.   It was a diversion from your boring salad and made its appearance at holiday meals that year.  When asked what we were having, I would finish my recitation with “and of course, mandarin orange salad.”   The kids and grandkids loved it……or so I thought.

………I called Shannon yesterday and invited her out to my house to eat, enticing her with “and I made mandaring orange salad.”  A silence on her end ensued and I finally got it, “You hate the salad  don’t you?”   In what can only be described as a sign of relief after all these years she said “Yessssssssssssssss.   Those little oranges are slimy.  Didn’t you ever notice the oranges were still there when I ate the rest of the salad, except the caramelized almonds.  I had nightmares of breaking a tooth on them.”

…….I’ve been making that salad since 1992, don’t you think you could have told me before now?

……..Shannon was the “kind kid” who never wanted to hurt anyone’s feelings especially her Mom who often struggled in the kitchen.   

……..And, I get it, I really do.  As mothers we seek to create magic in everything we do and  when we create special foods,  we hope the food  will be carried on long after we are gone.

…….Now,  where’s that recipe for “Stop & Go cookies?’