Closing a Loop in the Circle of Life

I credit my maternal grandmother with any interest and ability I have in the arena of cooking. When I went off to college, Grandma made sure I knew how to wash my own clothes and make a few meals. Over the years I would call her to ask how to make this or that. Other than a few box cakes as a kid, I can’t say I ever cooked in the same kitchen as Grandma.

Well Grandma turned 90 years old this week. She lives over six hours away, and I wasn’t able to make the celebration with the rest of the family. Instead, I made a special trip with my oldest son to spend three days with her. My grandparents are 89 & 90 and both still live in their home.

Grandma’s favorite meal is BBQ Pork Ribs. She lives in a small community in NW Iowa… not a BBQ mecca. I hauled my BBQ trailer with smoker right to her home. Cooked up beans, chicken, and three racks of baby back ribs. Its a hard thing to actually catch Grandma eating something, but she sat down and ate six ribs. She had two more for lunch today. I was able to leave a whole rack of ribs and a couple pieces of chicken for them to eat for the next couple of days.

She loved it. I know she enjoyed having her oldest grandchild make a special, favorite meal. I know I feel good having done it. After years of enjoying thousands of wonderful meals from one of the greatest “chefs” in my life, I got to return the favor. I’ve already started passing it on to my oldest son, Michael, who’s 3 1/2. He got his first meat thermometer this week. He carries it everywhere.