i see, you don't doooo things that way that weeee doooo

I went to put a baked potato in the oven and found myself stabbing it repeatedly with a fork.  I started cracking up and wondering, as I almost missed the delicate web of skin between my thumb and forefinger, does everyone do this precarious food preparation for a really good baked potato? *  It then occurred to me that most everything I do in the kitchen is because I learned it from my mother.
I love that.
And I love knowing that most everything she does in the kitchen, is because her mother taught her that way.

The list, of course,  includes millions of things,
--the way I store certain foods:  I don't put butter, ketchup or syrup in the cupboard, I also don't mind milk past it's 'due date', I hate peanut butter from the fridge, and dressed lettuce is one of the very few things I'll throw out after a dinner.  Millions of little glass jars with a few olives, a tiny bit of sauce, or a few slices of orange line the short shelves of our refrigerator.  Leftovers, a belief system.

-the way I wash and dry lettuce or pop popcorn for the movies, pack cookies and fill a thermos, believing its better to bring your own movie food

I also love that fact that more and more of my dishes and kitchen appliances are actually hand me downs from, not just my mother, but my mother's mother.  I use my grandmothers garlic press!  Many who have cooked at my house have a nice chuckle over this little old press.  I'm actually used to it.  I take a great pride in my vintage kitchen tools.  Someone laughed at my salad spinner because it has a string you pull like a toy top.  And when we had a movie night at our house & I pulled out our popcorn popper, a friend mentioned that the only thing missing is the little butter cup that used to rest in the back of the machine.  Yeah, it's old school and it still works and you don't just get rid of  things if they still work.

My mother calls it my 'farm mentality'-- I get it from her.  Again, another point of pride for me.  I don't think I would ever have thought of it, but it's been pointed out enough times that I'm actually glad for it.  It makes me feel even closer to my mom and to my grandma, who's passed away.  I love the idea of one's history, a simple history of the way you do things in the kitchen, being passed down to the next generation. 

*i have since looked up the baking of a baked potato and, apparently, this barbaric habit is recommended