Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Americana Autumn Nostalgia

Thank God it’s Monday, again. I always look forward to every Monday. They’re my 52 Chances a year, in which I get to share Memories of My Mom with you. Therefore, happy Monday.

Fall officially starts this afternoon! Today is also known as the Autumnal Equinox, when the day time and night time is just about equal. Thus, I say, “happy fall y’all”, as this is my favorite time of the year! This season brings me all of those warm and comforting feelings of nostalgia, more so than does any other season.

By the way, this is still National Americana Month, too. “Americana” is basically nostalgia that’s usually related to our American culture and history – especially from mid-20^th century influences like Norman Rockwell. His art work was displayed on over 300 covers of The Saturday Evening Post, for many years.

Rockwell depicted Americans as simple, small-town, middle-class folk; who were humble, God-fearing people, enjoying a strong and prosperous family life. He often used Americana elements in his pictures like American football, blue-collar workers, white-picket fences, denim jeans, baseball, and apple pie.

As I’ve written many times, previously, I find much happiness and nostalgic comfort in Michigan’s fall – from the changing colors of the trees to the sunshine and clear skies over the magnificent blue waters of its surrounding Great Lakes and the cooler temperatures. It’s time to break out the hoodies and sweaters and put away the shorts and swimsuits.

I love the aromas of a fall campfire in the backyard and a pot of stew or chili, simmering on the stovetop. I love watching fall football (like Dad – Mom hated it). My husband and I gather with some of our close friends to watch the games and celebrate (or commiserate), together. I also love the fall harvests and all of the fall holidays, leading up to Christmas.

FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…

As seen in…

Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – The Best of the Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 301). [A revised reprint of Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, 3^rd Edition)].

MINDING THE HEARTH

I AM RESIGNED TO my life with an armchair quarterback, for I know that the garlic in our matrimonial gladiola patch is PRO FOOTBALL! From September to March, every year, there is always going to be a gigantic communication gap in our house.

The art of conversation isn’t really lost. It’s merely hidden behind the pre-game warm-up, installing a power offense which will take advantage of decent but not blinding speed in the backfield in a right-handed attack with a lot of blocking in a size-out pass pattern.

I guess the reason I’ll never win an argument with my husband in the fall is that I can’t understand one single word he says. I even tried to leave him once during an NFL game but it wasn’t until the Super Bowl was over (5 months later) that he even noticed I was gone.

I admit, I don’t know much about football, but I still insist it isn’t quite fair that the fellow who worked so hard last season, doing a terrific job as quarterback, wasn’t promoted to HALF-back this season!

Anyway, the last time I tried to cultivate an interest in the game was the time my husband called me in to watch the last two minutes of an exciting game. (Mind you, I use the term “exciting” very loosely!)

I guess it was exciting. Paul kept jumping up and down, hollering, “Look at them go!” All I learned from that experience, was that two minutes of football is equal to 20 minutes of Daylight Savings Time.

An ordinary Sunday afternoon at our house would begin as he slipped into his George Blanda sweatshirt and punted his bottle of Ironized Yeast Tablets across the room. Then he would step up to the TV set and announce, “Gloria, is there anything you’d like to say to me before football season begins?”

Perhaps you understand why every fall I joined “Parents Without Partners”. Because my husband would only notice me if I were to run through the living room with… a number on my back.

I can forgive him a lot of faults, especially during football season, but… When he asked if I had anything to say to him before he turned on the set, it was no wonder I replied, “Do I have to say it all now?”…

MORE FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…

As seen in…

Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – The Best of the Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 302). [A revised reprint of Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, 3^rd Edition)].

MINDING THE HEARTH [Cont’d]

WITH ALL THIS INFORMATION in mind, you must now understand why it is that I have never written a book for women. I thought I did not have enough information to hold a woman’s interest for more than one or 2 chapters.

But I do NOW, and I’m going to entitle it “EVERYTHING YOU NEVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT FOOTBALL – and were sorry you asked!” Football season, the punt of no return, is that once-a-year experience that makes me wonder, as my husband sits, watching one game after the other on TV, why he hasn’t worn out HIS end zone!

It’s my own fault. I tried to cultivate an interest in the game so that we could share something besides the absence of conversation between us on weekends from September through February. But looking back, it seems that all we have been able to share, instead, is the compelling urge to see this season over with.

I want to see it over with, so that we can be a family again, and my husband would like to see it over with, so that he can see how closely he came to determine the winning team at the Super Bowl! My armchair quarterback keeps giving advice on every play.

Every time this happens, I expect Tom Landry to stretch his arm right through our picture tube and point at my husband, insisting, “Hey, you – you with all the advice! Go in for Dupree!”

#GloriaPitzersCookbook

https://www.balboapress.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-001062253

Mind you, this is the same man who has committed to perfect memory such statistics as how many touchdowns and yards run, his favorite player has mastered but he can’t remember his own shirt size, where he left his car keys, our kids’ middle names, nor his mother’s telephone number!…

I suppose one thing I can always do while he watches television football games, is the grocery shopping. After all, somebody must! We can’t eat without groceries. While I have tried to train Paul for retirement, by trying to teach HIM how to shop for the food, I don’t believe he is ready, yet, for his “solo flight” down the aisles of the A&P!…

Believe it or not, I also love fall for my “fall cleaning” ritual. This time of year gives me an opportunity to re-organize all of my “stuff” (and organizing is actually one of my favorite pastimes), as my fall and winter décor got buried by my summer garage sale finds and our camping gear. My husband says I have a lot of stuff and maybe I do but I enjoy all of it.

When I lose that enjoyment in something but I know someone else may appreciate it, I usually give it to a non-profit re-sale store or I put it in a yard sale of my own. Of course, there’s a method to my madness, as this makes room for more stuff.

“Fall Cleaning As Important As Spring Cleaning”, by Dr. Sally Augustin, Ph.D. (PsychologyToday.com; Oct. 9, 2013), is a great (and timeless) article that focuses on de-cluttering. She wrote: “We continually accumulate stuff and dealing with it is part of fall cleaning.” I told my husband, “See – I’m not the only one who accumulates stuff!”

I think I got that accumulating-stuff-trait from my mom but Dad was the organizer so I guess I emulate both of them. Is it really so bad to be like your parents? Maybe not in all ways but in a lot of ways I am like them and it makes me happy. I’m proud to carry on some of their habits and traditions. They’re nostalgic, too.

Now that fall is officially here, I can start putting up my various holiday village displays. It begin this week, with my fall décor and harvest village. In a couple of weeks, I’ll add to that my Halloween décor and village. When those come down in November, I’ll put up my Christmas décor and “metropolis”, for the big winter finale.

I recently started collecting pieces for a small Easter-Spring village “encore”. After the Christmas stuff comes down in January, that will go up for March and April. I’d like to (and eventually I will) make a few dioramas for other traditional life events and celebrations like Valentine’s Day, Independence Day and summertime, as well as Thanksgiving.

When I was young, Mom had a small village and train set for Christmas that just fit on our fireplace mantel. I always loved her display. It inspired me to have a Christmas village display of my own. But then it became an obsession. My village collection grew and grew, year after year, for two decades.

Comparable to Rockwell’s Americana Utopia artwork, I try to depict those same kind of sentimental and nostalgic scenes that tickle the memories or the imagination. In my holiday village displays, the 18^th, 19^th, and 20^th centuries all meld into one perfect time and place. Also, all of the villagers live happily and harmoniously together.

LAST THOUGHTS…

Thanks for visiting! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my memories of my mom, her memories, and other related things. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at therecipedetective@outlook.com. You can also find me on Facebook: @TheRecipeDetective.

IN CLOSING…

In honor of Thursday, being National Cooking Day, September, being National Americana Month, and tomorrow, being Great American Pot Pie Day, here’s Mom’s copycat recipe for “Pot Pies (Like Boston Market)”, from her self-published Secret Recipes^TM Bulletin_© #102 – Imitations of Boston Market Dishes (Secret Recipes^TM, Marysville, MI; 1998, p. 2). As always, asking only for proper credit if you re-share it.

#GreatAmericanPotPieDay

#NationalCookingDay

#NationalAmericanaMonth