Food Friday: Ham Slices
Today I retweeted a post from a NPR food article entitled, Why Are We Drawn To Heirloom Fruits And Veggies? They're 'Edible Memory'.
That phrase, 'Edible Memory' stuck with me. While they use that phrase in discussing the popularity of heirloom tomatoes I believe that food memories are an essential part of documenting our family history.Smell and taste can be a powerful family history reminder.
What are your food memories? You probably have numerous ones that encompass holidays and celebrations. Sometimes mine are of seemingly insignificant moments. Growing up, I was close to my grandparents. I spent weekends with my paternal grandparents enjoying their company, talking, playing games, and just hanging out. We spent hours reading, playing the organ, and doing household chores.
The food I ate with my grandparents has always been a strong memory. One of those memories is of my grandfather eating a ham steak. This may seem odd but the memory envelopes me whenever I go to the grocery store and see those singular steaks wrapped up and ready to eat. I identify them with him probably because no one else I knew ever purchased those. He would buy one of those packages, go home, and eat the entire thing by himself. He largely did the grocery shopping and the ham steak was a staple. I don't remember my grandmother every eating one, but maybe she didn't care for ham. I can still "see" my grandfather eating a ham steak almost as if he was alive today enjoying that meal.
So today's recipe is a take on that food memory. It comes from one of my favorite series of community cookbooks, Favorite Recipes of America with its funky 1960s food photos.
I'm sure this recipe of ham and sweet potatoes from 1968 is one that many people still enjoy.
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| Follow me on Twitter @genaortega. Thanks to @theblissbaker for the original tweet |
That phrase, 'Edible Memory' stuck with me. While they use that phrase in discussing the popularity of heirloom tomatoes I believe that food memories are an essential part of documenting our family history.Smell and taste can be a powerful family history reminder.
What are your food memories? You probably have numerous ones that encompass holidays and celebrations. Sometimes mine are of seemingly insignificant moments. Growing up, I was close to my grandparents. I spent weekends with my paternal grandparents enjoying their company, talking, playing games, and just hanging out. We spent hours reading, playing the organ, and doing household chores.
The food I ate with my grandparents has always been a strong memory. One of those memories is of my grandfather eating a ham steak. This may seem odd but the memory envelopes me whenever I go to the grocery store and see those singular steaks wrapped up and ready to eat. I identify them with him probably because no one else I knew ever purchased those. He would buy one of those packages, go home, and eat the entire thing by himself. He largely did the grocery shopping and the ham steak was a staple. I don't remember my grandmother every eating one, but maybe she didn't care for ham. I can still "see" my grandfather eating a ham steak almost as if he was alive today enjoying that meal.
So today's recipe is a take on that food memory. It comes from one of my favorite series of community cookbooks, Favorite Recipes of America with its funky 1960s food photos.
I'm sure this recipe of ham and sweet potatoes from 1968 is one that many people still enjoy.
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