Food and Family

I love to cook. I don't really have an interest in drawing and whatnot, so I guess cooking is my way of being an artist. It is so fulfilling to me to be in the kitchen (a clean kitchen, anyway), trying out new ingredients, getting my hands "dirty" and seeing the end result--a well-balanced meal, piping hot, on a colorful Fiesta plate. Xon says my secret ingredient is love. Awwwww....

Cooking is a major stress reliever for me. I would cook for 20 people every night if I could. Not because I think I am the world's best cook (Just ask Datya about the vegetable soup I tried to make her. Bleck!), but really, it is just not as much fun to cook for two people. My family came down for Christmas two years ago, and it was one of the highlights of my life. I always tell them I don't care where we go for Christmas--I just want to be able to cook.

I remember the first time I cooked dinner for Xon and his friends. I was a senior at Asbury, and I was living with Dawn's former roomie in a house in Wilmore. I cooked lasagna, salad, garlic bread and peach pie with ice cream. I spent all day getting that meal ready. I had no sooner said "Let's eat!" when I looked at the table, and it was all gone. I was flabergasted. For some reason, I had expected to have leftovers! I literally called my mom and asked if it was "normal" for guys to eat so much food. Now, she grew up with two brothers, and they were always bringing their friends over for dinner, so Mom just laughed and said yes. I was used to eating some noodles at lunch and that was it. Boy, would things be different now!

I don't know why I never thought to become a professional chef, but maybe that isn't the same. Maybe it is family and friends that I really like cooking for. Last Christmas, my mom gave me two aprons. One belonged to my great grandma Jessie--or "Granner," as we all call her. And one belonged to my grandma June--"Granny." Mom remembers both of them wearing the aprons as they cooked.

I also have a laminated copy (thanks to Wendy!) of Granner's handwritten recipes, and it is one of my most cherished possessions. I only know Granner through photographs and family stories, so I like to picture her wearing her black-and-white checked apron in her kitchen, getting her hands dirty, making meals for her young children--Stanley, Doyne and June. Granny followed in her mom's footsteps and cooked for everybody in the neighborhood. Everyone was welcome at her table. --And even though she died when I was just seven, we still make her rolls for every family gathering, and we recognize that no one makes them better than she did.

So maybe it is not just the act of cooking that I enjoy. Maybe it is the memories that are built around family dinner tables, year after year. Regardless, I am blessed with a wonderful family that has set wonderful examples for me to follow, and I have wonderful memories. I am thankful for them. And I am thankful for a husband who likes to eat, who likes my cooking...and who doesn't mind doing the dishes!

Cleaning, Cleaning...

I've been catching up with some college friends today. My graduating class has a Web site for all of us to post updates and whatnot. I found a blog from a classmate in Lexington, and it had this link. I don't know if it's enough to motivate me, but maybe you will like it! :-)

http://www.flylady.net/

Serpent Mound

The country's largest snake lives near Portsmouth, Ohio. It is 1/4 of a mile long, three-feet high, and it can regularly be seen devouring its prey.

Ok, ok. It's not a real snake. But it is one of the largest serpent effigies in North America. Serpent Mound is a mound of earth shaped like a gigantic snake, uncoiling in seven, deep curves. At one end, there is an oval that looks like an egg. Historians believe the oval is supposed to represent the prey the snake is attempting to devour.

An archaeologist from Harvard excavated Serpent Mound at 3850 State Route 73 in Peebles, Ohio, in the late 19th-century. He originally thought the Adena Indian culture created it, since there were two Adena burial mounds nearby. The Adena culture lasted from approximately 800 B.C. - A.D. 100, and the Adena people were Ohio's first farmers. They were known as hunters and gatherers, but they developed a more settled way of life by planting sunflowers and squash, etc.

However, there was a third burial mound near the serpent's tail that belonged to the Fort Ancient culture. That culture lasted from approximately A.D. 1000 - 1550, and the people were known for building circular or rectangular houses surrounded by an open plaza. They originally used burial mounds but later developed cemeteries for their dead.

There were no burials within Serpent Mound's walls--and very few artifacts. But archaeologists did later find wood charcoal that could be radiocarbon dated. So many historians believe Serpent Mound was actually created by the Fort Ancient culture, instead of the Adenas.

Unfortunately, no one has any idea why the Mound was built. Feel free to take a guess!

Datya and Katya

Here are the two sisters all grown up! I went to MN for Datya's ultrasound. It was very relaxing. We probably watched 10 movies! ;-) Dawn's hair has turned black due to pregnancy, apparently.

We used to be mistaken for twins ALL THE TIME, but now I think we definitely favor different sides of the family. Isn't that amazing?

It's a...

...BOY!

Alexander Tevis Lippman is due November 23, 2005. He weighs 10 ounces.