My Mom’s Kitchen
.
We lived in a company house in Phillips, Texas, as I grew up,
We never ate out so my Mom cooked every meal for us to sup.
She had a very small kitchen, but it was equipped very well.
This poem recalls the tools she used to cook there by her self.
.
.
.
My Mom’s Kitchen
.
Each morning my Mom fixed her a cup of tea and my Dad coffee.
She had a metal “tea brewer” where she placed dry leaves of tea.
She hung it in a cup and poured on boiling water for her brew.
When the color was right, her tea was done and she was through.
.
.
.
.
..
.
For Dad’s brew, she had a “coffee pot” with a top strainer for coffee,
The boiling water would perk up on the grounds brewing, heavily.
When his favorite strength was reached, she dumped the grounds.
And poured my Dad the most perfect cup of coffee to be found.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
When Mom fixed mashed potatoes, she would boil them tender,
Then mash them with a tool that just filled them with splendor.
The tool would get all the lumps out making them so very smooth,
She called it her “potato masher” for making fine tasting food.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Mom had a big set of multicolored “mixing bowls” for daily needs.
She used them every day as she cooked food for our daily feeds.
They were yellow, green, red and blue brightening the kitchen.
She still had them all when she left and went to heaven back then.
.
.
.
.
..
.
Mom often made cakes from scratch for us all to eat and enjoy,
With all the ingredients in a big mixing bowl, she then did deploy,
A “hand mixer” to blend it all up smooth by turning a handle.
It required elbow grease to get the cake done for birthday candles.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Mom used a lot of cheese in the things she cooked back then.
She had a four sided “cheese grater” to grate the cheese so thin.
There were four sets of different size blades, one on each side.
I can remember a few times I helped and grated off my own hide.
.
.
.
.
..
.
Mom had a “nut chopper” she used to chop nuts for her baking.
It was a jar with a lid and a moving spring loaded blade for shaking.
The nuts could be chopped fine or course as desired by the chopper,
Mom made cakes and pies, but best were cup cake mouth poppers.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
My Moms cuts of meat was always so tasty and so very tender,
She had a “meat tenderizer” hammer and the meat did surrender,
As she pounded it with metal spikes on both sides so very rough,
Until it was melt in your mouth tender for our fine meals and such.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Mom had an old “iron skillet” with a lid she used every Sunday,
To fix my favorite meal of pot roast, potatoes, and carrots my way.
I loved those meals cooked in that big old iron skillet she had.
I bought me one in an antique store that I found making me glad.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
In a drawer in her kitchen’ she had a set of “pinking shears”,
Or scissors with saw tooth blades she used to cut meat spears
As a kid they were fun to play with making these jagged sides,
But I never did figure out what “pinking” meant as so applied.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
You can see that today most of the old kitchen gadgets are gone.
Most have been replaced with things to make Mom’s job fun.
I will always appreciate those thousands of meals Mom made.
With those very hard to use little gadgets as her only self aide.
.
.
.
.
By Bill
.
.
.
Thanks for reading My Mom”s Kitchen,
Bill