Kitchen Memoirs are a collection of stories about the people and dishes who have inspired me most in the kitchen. Each month I will share a new story about one of these people accompanied by one or more recipes. This month’s feature is Marsha.

The Beginning

The year was 1975. Microsoft was born, bell bottoms and mood rings donned the majority, and the movie Jaws kept most beach-goers out of the water. My Dad got his very first job as a police officer in Moorhead, Minnesota, a suburb of the cinematically popularized city of Fargo. In his group of peers was Grant: another eager twenty-something, ready to absorb his training in Academy, learn the ropes of field training, and ultimately carry out his duty as an officer of the law. In the short time they worked together (my Dad got a job in the Twin Cities a short 11 months later), Grant and his wife, Marsha, became fast friends with my parents.

Your Kitchen Is My Kitchen

While I’m fairly certain I’ve only been privy to a fraction of the stories and memories my parents have enjoyed with Grant and Marsha, one thing is for sure: they always have a fantastic time together. As a child, I have vivid and pristine memories of them coming to our home, relaxing on the patio, us kids playing in the pool as the sun lazily dipped below the tree line. These visits, without fail, always included cooking.

I remember my Mom and Marsha in the kitchen while Grant and Dad manned the grill. The smells, the mood, the warmth. I remember Marsha making bulgur. The black olives, crunchy water chestnuts, and nutty aroma permeating the whole house. It is all so perfectly etched in to my mind.

It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized how special these moments were: our kitchen was their kitchen. There was no uncertainty, no polite questions asking what to help with. The meal being prepared was one that everyone was to enjoy, therefore, everyone was to help. But it wasn’t asked, expected, or told: it just was. This is a moment that I reflect on often, as I’ve found my closest lifelong friendships operate the exact same way.

Culinary Nostalgia

When I thought about asking Marsha to be featured in my Kitchen Memoirs series, I found out that so many of my favorite recipes that I grew up with were attributed to her:

• Bulgur (the BEST!)
• Zucchini Casserole
• Swiss Pie
• Beef Stroganoff
• Goulash

This only validated my desire to feature her in my Kitchen Memoirs, and to talk to her about her love of food, how she learned to cook, and how this has changed over the years.

During our day together, our conversation naturally lead to chatting about her early years in the kitchen. “My Mom was a great cook. She made leg of lamb, stuffed porkchops, and I always looked forward to Sundays when she made chicken and stuffing. Although, she was pretty fussy; she didn’t want me in the kitchen. I could do salads, scrub potatoes, or clean! She made  It wasn’t until Grant went to Vietnam that I really started cooking more.”

When asked what recipe she remembers mastering first, she answered, “I had a girlfriend who lived a couple doors down who taught me how to make basic chili. And then I moved on to chicken and rice casserole. I kept cooking because I liked it!”

“I remember my Grandma Mooridian”, she reflects. “She never used a recipe, and she made the best food! My Grandpa taught her how to cook. She was 100% German, and he was 100% Armenian. He was working on the railroad in Jamestown, and somehow they crossed paths. When they did, that was that: they got married!”

“She would make yard-long spaghetti, and the best part was the sauce. She would pound out a round steak, and then cover it with tomato paste, herbs, bacon, and garlic. Then she’d roll it up and tie it, and let it cook slowly in a tomato sauce all day. I use this same method today with bone in pork chops. It is so good!”

Secret Ingredients

The day we were in the kitchen together, she made her Wild Rice Casserole. It was so comforting to see how natural being in the kitchen comes to her. Some things she measured, others she eyeballed. The onion was chopped with precision, while the olives were rustically hand torn. With a simple tossing of the ingredients, she was able to quickly determine that the dish was going to be far too dry, so she added “just half of a can” of tomato sauce.

Indicators of someone who has spent countless hours in the kitchen: experimenting, finding what she (and her family) like best, adjusting, and repeating. “Sure, I’ve used recipes in the past, but they don’t last long. I’ll read through a recipe and be inspired by it, but I usually just do what I want, making it up as I go, with the ingredients I have”.

Whenever I would ask Marsha about a recipe, it became evident very quickly what her go-to ingredients are:

1. Herbs
2. Garlic
3. Tomatoes
4. Wine (both to drink and to cook!)

The only recipe that these ingredients wouldn’t make better would maybe be ice cream, but I have a strange feeling Marsha would somehow make it work (and be delicious, at that).

 

 

It Takes Two

Marsha and Grant’s approach to seasonal cooking can be boiled down to two seasons:

• Soups, stews, and cozy things when it’s rainy, snowy, or cold outside
• Grilling outside during any other type of Minnesota weather we’re thrown.

One recipe they return to again and again is Grant’s Slumgullion, a word (no less a recipe) that I was certain they concocted themselves. Turns out the joke’s on me: slumgullion is defined as a “thin stew of vegetables and rice”. Grant and Marsha complete theirs with ground beef or turkey, mushrooms, peppers, zucchini, onion, tomatoes, garlic (just missing the herbs!), green olives, red wine, and beef stock, with the finished product served over rice or pasta.

They also use bone-in cuts of meat when making soup (“it adds so much richness!”), add bourbon to their chili, pre-smoke ribs before tucking them away in the freezer, and make a killer Bloody Mary.

Not one, but two creatives in the kitchen! My parents really do choose the best friends.

As always, my time spent with Marsha left me feeling taken care of and loved. She is a genuine person with a kind heart who shares, or rather, has helped instill my love and passion for food.

Hungry for more?

Check out my Kitchen Memoirs page for additional stories. 

Tags: featured, Kitchen Memoirs, Stories