Happy Mother’s Day
AND THE BEAT GOES ON
All goes well around the Brady household. The woods are starting to “fluff” out with trees budding and the ferns already 12” tall. With all the rain they grow in leaps and bounds. The bleeding hearts are so beautiful and graceful. Primrose and phlox plants are in full bloom. Blue Bells and Helleborus Orientalis, a.k.a Lenten Rose are glorious. The Bamboo in the Oriental Garden has prolific shoots, weeping evergreens are full of baby pinecone buds and the Japanese Maples are showing their true colors. Rhubarb is nearing the first harvest as is the lovage. Early spring flowers, daffodils, hyacinths, and crocus are gone. And I mourn the quick de-flowering of the Magnolia within view of the whole East side of my home. With a strong wind or heavy rain it is a barren tree overnight. I’ll soon plant some rosemary and thyme as they did not survive the winter.
Happily, I have started to do my long trail treks into Kensington that I’m able to reach walking outside my door. They are invigorating and challenging after a winter on the very boring treadmill. I horseback ride at least 4 days a week and I’m enjoying Pilates classes at Reforming Foundations in Milford. The instructors are very knowledgeable and watchful. It is a comfortable but challenging atmosphere.
I had so much fun last week with a full class at the Acorn Farm store in downtown Milford. It is so enjoyable to have people that I know come and to also meet new foodies. It was an inquisitive group with lots of great questions. This was the second time that I did some demo cooking and it went off without a hitch thanks to Marty, Linda and Karen who were my “go-to” assistants at all stages of the evening. Thanks, ladies!
This upcoming Wednesday, May 7th, I’ll be at the Commerce Library from 7 PM until 8:30 PM for a reflection on writing and publishing my recent cookbook, LOOKING BACK, COOKING FORWARD, that will be available for purchase and signing. It is a beautiful book, Michigan Made, from start to finish, – get one for mom for Mother’s Day!!!
Speaking of which…
Mother’s Day is this upcoming Sunday and its history dates to 380 BC in ancient Egypt with a festival honoring Isis, Mother of the Gods. Grecians celebrated Rhea; their Mother of Deities during spring fairs and in the 1600’s Christians in England worshiped Mary the Mother of Christ which evolved to include all mothers and became Mothering Sunday, a tradition held every second Sunday in May. Early settlers to America did not carry on the holiday in the new world. They were too poor, hungry and busy to take a day to celebrate. In 1908, after her mother died, Anna Jarvis, an Appalachian homemaker, wanted to celebrate her life and campaigned for a day dedicated to mothers. By the next year many states were holding services, mostly religious, and in 1914 Woodrow Wilson signed it as a nationally observed holiday. The day has become fiercely commercial and is the largest dining out day of the year and the biggest day for florists.
I don’t need Mother’s Day as a reminder of how much I admire and respect my Mom. She was born Marjorie Edick in 1929, the 7th of 10 children, in Buffalo, N.Y. Her father worked the second shift for the U.S. Postal Service and her mother took care of organizing the havoc that a family of 12 could create. They always ate dinner together and Grandpa would do much of the cooking. They barely fit around the table and meals were mostly a roast of some sort, veggies, potatoes, “good bread and real butter.” Game was often the “protein” part of the meal, even squirrel stew. Mom remembers that there was always a huge pot of soup made on Saturday morning that would be eaten throughout the week. It was always meat based because chicken was way too expensive and bones were cheap. Mom started school just over the age of 4 because the nuns of Annunciation Parish felt sorry for her mother having so many little ones at home. She transferred to a public school, Lafayette High, at the ripe old age of 14 where she was on the swim, diving and cheerleading teams. She took mostly clerical and business classes and graduated at 16. Over the next few years she continued working for the law firm that she’d interned at during high school, then was recruited by Western Electric Company and was secretary to a department head in the plant. During that time she met my Dad, married and had 7 of her own children. In 1967 they moved to Detroit, and she continued to be a stay-at-home mom until Josephine, the youngest, was in elementary school at which time she pursued her college education. She really enjoys the written word and one of the best things my Mom instilled in us as young children was the love of reading. We were always, and still are, involved in sports be it swimming, gymnastics, figure skating, tennis, handball, golf or, for me, horseback riding. And one of my fondest memories of learning to cook was watching Mom prepare her awesome Lamb Shanks. Thanks, Mom, for your guidance and support! You are much loved!
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY
WISHING ALL MANY MILLION DOLLAR DAYS!
XXOO,
MARY, MADDIE, SOPHIA, AND PONIES!!!