Fond Farewell to My Foodie Hero

Grandma in Her Tiny Kitchen Circa 1980s (Notice Counter Space!)

Saturday, the person who instilled my love of baking and cooking passed away.  My Grandma, Laetitia, succumbed to the aneurysm that had not caused her any pain or suffering for over six years.

Grandma’s passion for food brightened my childhood and taught me that creating tasty, satisfying dishes did not have to rely upon luxurious staples, but that fresh ingredients and inspiration were the key to solid cooking. Since Grandma moved to a retirement community over six years ago, I would write a weekly letter and make my Friday night ritual call to Quebec to tell her about the baking or cooking I had done the previous week or the restaurants I had gone to. She enjoyed imagining the food through my letters and phone calls and I loved that food still connected us after all those years.

One of my favorite food experiences with Grandma was the picking of wild strawberries in Eastern Quebec when I was about six years old.  The picking was labor intensive, back-breaking but yielded perhaps the best single food item I have ever tasted. Grandma would freeze some of the tiny red gems, turn a portion of the harvest into jams and fix me her signature Strawberry Sandwiches. Pure heaven. In what I will call very symbolic, Saturday night, after hearing of her passing, I had to attend a work function, and when I arrived at the remote location, next to my parked car were hundreds of ripe wild strawberries. The first I have seen in over 25 years. Wink Grandma, I know that was you – well played.

Grandma had 13 brothers and sisters and her family was not wealthy, so stretching the ingredients and being creative in the kitchen was something she learned early on. If pot roast with mashed potatoes was presented to my nephews or nieces now, I do not think it would be a well-received thing. When Grandma made an adventure out of the dish by shredding the meat, pilling up the mashed potatoes into a mountain that she topped with, of all things, a pimento-stuffed olive and called it a fort – I ate it up (literally and physically). Here are some of Grandma’s recipes that I enjoy making and that have brought me, and will continue to bring me, simple pleasure.

• Chocolate and Peanut Butter Treats
• Canadian Brown Sugar Pie (Tarte au Sucre)
• Bolognese Sauce
• Basic Crepe Batter

When I was little, after every round of intense tickling, Grandma and I called a truce where we stared at each other with a serious look on our faces and said “a la prochaine bataille” loosely translated to “to the next battle”. R.I.P. Grandma and “a la prochaine bataille”.  Know that your foodie passion lives on! Véro