A Happy and Nostalgic Father's Day

What a wonderful day to celebrate all the important fathers in our life. We had a great day. We went to Mass, then over to Grandpa Dan & Grandma Sally's for brunch. After that, we came home for Anne to take a nap and Patrick took the rest of the kids to the pool for a little while. We had Shrimp Scampi, vegetables, and corn on the cob for dinner followed by Tippin's French Silk Pie and/or Chocolate Sheet Cake for dessert. Yummy.

A number of things today had me thinking back to my childhood and having some nostalgia about some things: recipes, dishes, and corn on the cob.
- recipes:
So I decided to pick a recipe for brunch at Dan & Sally's and I made "Donna Mueller's" coffee cake. Funny that this recipe had this name for so many years. Patrick has often wondered why it's always "DonnaMueller," said altogether and very quickly as if it's a one syllable name. Then, for dessert tonight, I made chocolate sheet cake for the first time. I was telling the kids how my mom used to make it often when I was a kid and I really enjoyed it with a big glass of milk. Smelling it and tasting it, I just felt like, wow, what a familiar taste; it had been a while.

- dishes:
When I was making dinner, I decided to wash some of the bowls & pots I had used during the process. I need to keep my motivations straight - I was doing this since I had just emptied the dishwasher for the second time today and was trying to avoid filling it right back up with all the big items. So, I was washing them to save myself some work later. Anyway, while washing, I had two thoughts: 1) should we get rid of our dishwasher for family bonding and stress relief purposes, and 2) the thought, once again of Grandma Rita's washing methods in her ceramic sink (aka LOUD). I don't think I'll ever forget how she washed dishes so quickly and sloshed the dishes & water all around. As far as getting rid of my dishwasher, I was thinking how it was actually a bit relaxing to stand there and just work on that; to put out of my mind any other chores I could be doing and actually afford myself a few minutes of quiet (other than the sloshing of dishes, ha). Hmm, it was actually kind of nice, forcing myself to slow down for a bit. Then the other issue of the family bonding benefits of washing dishes. You could ask my siblings if they agree; well, I guess mostly Lissy (doubt that Beth & Ben ever really did many dishes). Wow, every night for a long time, I can recall the two of us doing dishes. Boy, sometimes, or was it most of the time, that we'd fight about it? But, I do also know that it was simply additional time together, interacting, talking, etc. Are there enough benefits to make me get rid of my dishwasher. NO WAY, but the thoughts were still good and it probably wouldn't be a bad thing, just can't imagine going back. The next load is primed, too, just waiting for a couple more before another cycle.

- corn on the cob:
Just a short comment on this. So, I remember eating quite a bit of corn on the cob as a kid. Patrick & I were discussing something that we have none of, but both vividly recall - the corn on the cob push pin type things you'd poke into the ends of the ears to hold the corn with. I remember different decorative ones: ears of corn, pigs, other animals, etc. Kind of funny to remember that we had them; now we just hold the corn. Seemed like they were a pretty common thing to have around the house.