Yesterday was my Grandpa Joe's birthday. He died a few years ago, and on his birthday I always make his favorite dinner, Grandpa Joe Bean Soup. It is super ghetto navy bean soup with ham, but he was in the navy. Get it? Get it?
Soak your navy beans overnight.
Then put them in the crock pot with enough broth or water to cover them. Add some chopped ham and--wait for it--a goodly amount of ketchup. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
Then put them in the crock pot with enough broth or water to cover them. Add some chopped ham and--wait for it--a goodly amount of ketchup. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
Some great things about my Grandpa Joe:
He worked for Firestone for ten jillion years. He had a hidden supply of actual, honest-to-goodness Wham-O Superballs that he would break out. We routinely were injured from them. It was awesome.
He used to play a game with me where he would stop talking, fake passing out, and say "I'm out of gas." Then I would kiss him. Then he would be ready to go again. (This familiarity with the phrase and obligatory kisses made college W really love Grandpa Joe.)
He loved ice water. Icy ice water.
He also loved sports. Baseball and golf, mostly. He would watch TV and listen to his transistor radio at the same time.
He was super tan. SUPER TAN. Which did not work out too well with his health in the long run.
He liked to garden and had a cool tool shop in his garage.
He was an awesome grandfather.
I really enjoyed sharing this with Jooj. Luckily, the rest of my grandparents are still alive so we don't have honorary dinners for them. Jooj just visits them when we vacation. But it got me thinking about how we need to honor the rest of our families.
Maybe we will have some celebrations for the living. I can see it now: We eat Hot Cheetos and Steak for my dad, something disgusting for my mom (like sherbet), and something in a sauce for Papo. CayCay night requires Mr. Goodbars and for Tio Ricky day we go to Wendy's. For Grandma Bev and Aunt Margaret we also go out, but to Carl's Jr and we get a Superstar on sourdough with cheese, onions, and extra pickles. And we argue with the people who work there. Oh, and we have to get a Diet Coke with REAL lemon and a splash of regular Coke. And a splash of Sprite. And for Grandpa Kent we just have a bowl of bread and milk.
What would you do to honor your family?
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8 comments:
I make spice cake for my dad's birthday and reassure my friend who has the same birthday as my Grandpa (who would have been 100 last Wednesday) that it could be worse--she could be as old as he was.
For the living? I would make green jello salad w/ pears and cottage cheese for my Grandma Jacobs, penuche for Grandma Rex (only she won't give us the real recipe)...or maybe her fantastic whole wheat bread (but now that I think about it, I don't have that real recipe either).
Besides the Jamon Serrano we bought my mom last year for Christmas with the hoof still on it?
Coconut-pecan broiled frosting on vanilla cake for my grandpa. Empanada Gallega or Rosca for abuelita.
Hmm, Good question. I think Obaachan would be a schmorgasborg of pastries and baked goods. Cake, bread, croissants, you name it. Ojiichan would be crazy things like seasoned squid guts(those would have to be just for show), dried fish to snack on, tofu, and other weird stuff that goes with Japanese liquor. Grandma day is the day of Edamame's b-day, so it'd be cake...and then some indian food, and Grandpa day would have to be Korean BBQ or sushi.
My grandparents would all get meat and potatoes with green beans/corn/carrots. They all like the same thing.
I think I would fear Ojiichan day the most.
My grandpa Warnock used to say that he wanted to eat a tuna sandwich for his last meal. I think about him whenever I have one.
I would go to the Flamingo buffet in Vegas and eat crab legs until I was out of breath. Then I would wait, and eat some more.
Awww, Grandpa Joe. Whenever I think about him, I break into song from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory..."it's just me and Grandpa Joe, will make your troubles go away, blow away, there they go" and then I stop because nothing else in that song is about Grandpa Joe anymore.
Great memories cuz! Some of those I didn't know and some I remembered again after reading...thanks! What would I do to honor my family!? Well, I bring Green Stuff to my inlaws' Thanksgivings and then sit back and watch them all take the polite obligatory bite...it's rather amusing, actually! Even with a plastered smile, it's the furrowed eyebrows that always gives them away. Ahh - I love polite people.
I can't even begin to think about Green Stuff of Cranberry Crud. If anyone brings it to my funeral I am haunting them. HAUNTING them.
We go to one of two places of my grandmother's favorite senior citizen buffets on her birthday:
Chuck-A-Rama
or
Golden Corral.
We sort of stand-in for her too—we both have the old scripts memorized and love to do impersonations of her. We laugh a lot and I always cry a little too, but it's something I love that we do.
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