Mothers Surprise

A week ago a joined a writing group called “write your memoirs”. Our first exercise was to write about “In the Kitchen”. I was surprised at what came up for me. It was a memory I had of listening to my Mom and her friends chat over coffee in the kitchen. So, over this week I’ve had the idea of “In the kitchen” on my mind. I had a memory of my Grandmother Marey and breakfast with her, and how she was “granola” before being “granola” was groovy! And this morning I thought about Mother’s surprise. That’s what my Mom called it. And I always knew when it was coming. But let me set the scene for you... My parents were not “poor”, but our family was not rolling in it either. We were I’d say typical middle class. As a child I don’t remember my parents talking about money except when it came to food. My Mom would talk about “cooking on a dime” and “making meals stretch to save money”, and I remember how proud she was that she could provide us with yummy, creative and nutritious meals “on a budget”. And she did just that! So, back to Mother’s surprise.,,, Mothers surprise was kind of like scalloped potatoes and ham, but it was with left over pork roast, sliced onions, cream of mushroom soup, land-o-lakes yellow american cheese and chopped up left over pork roast... and it always followed the dinner of pork roast, baked potatoes, veggies and salad. So I always knew when it was coming, and I really looked forward to it! She would slice the left over baked potatoes, onions, and roast, then layer it in a casserole dish and add the soup and cheese sauce, then another layer and another. Then she would bake it, 350 degrees for 45 minutes (I know this because my Mom would prepare it in the morning and who ever’s turn it was to do dinner would have to pop it in the over following the instructions left on the kitchen table). The reason I was thinking of it was because last night I made it, with a bit of a variation. I had no potatoes... Could mothers surprise be made without potatoes? Absolutely. I used rice instead (I got a bit of my Mom’s creative cooking gene for sure). And my husband and son LOVED it! And so did I! Yup Mother’s surprise, following pork roast dinner the night before. Carrying on the family tradition of cooking on a dime, providing fun nutritious food on a budget and happy campers at the dinner table!! Enjoy your time in the kitchen folks! Its where memory’s are made for sure!!