Uncle Tim’s Birthday Foods
A few moments ago I called my grams to catch up and to ask her a couple clarifying questions about her banana bread recipe (coming soon) and we began to talk about my Uncle Tim. Uncle Tim often comes up in our chats but today is special. Today would have been his 53rd birthday.
Me: If Uncle Tim was still here what would you have cooked for him today? What were some of his favorite foods?
Grams: He didn’t really have a whole lot of favorites. He was like Perry – he would eat anything you put in front of him…. He loved liver and onions. Or, he liked his french fries …with his fish ….and that is what I am having for dinner tonight.
Me: Did you do that intentionally or is that coincidence?
Grams: Oh I guess it’s just a coincidence… And he liked spinach too so ill open a can of that tonight to go with my fish.
Me: One thing that makes me think of Uncle Tim is strong coffee
Grams: Yeah Timmy drank strong coffee but Perry drank it stronger. But yes they both did like coffee and drink lots of it.
Grams: Perry is the only kid who would go to the store and buy exactly what I asked for and only that and then come home with all of my change and ask me if he could have some of the change and then he would walk all the way back to the store to get what he wanted. He was the only kid who would do that.
Our conversation digressed from there to what she was baking to mail in a care package to my cousin who is currently deployed. After grams and I finished chatting, I kept thinking about Uncle Tim and different memories I have of him. I could write a book about the many memories I have of Uncle Tim and the hundreds of ways that he impacted my life and the person that I am today. For now, in keeping with the theme of the blog, I’ll just share a couple of the food related memories that come to mind:
1.) He might not have had a strong preference of food of the savory variety but boy did he have a sweet tooth. With his strong coffee he always had a handful of cookies. More specifically, crunchy cookies. I know this because we discussed one day which of grandma’s cookies were our favorites and I said I liked her chewy chocolate chip ones and he said he preferred his cookies crunchy for dipping in his tea or coffee.
2.) Having lived with Uncle Tim for a few years when I was growing up, I have many memories of getting a “midnight snack” or “movie snack” with him. Sometimes we used an air popper to make popcorn and I would have to stand on a chair in order to be able to reach to put the kernels in the machine and the butter in the little tray on top. Other times, we made ice cream cones from the gallon bucket of Neapolitan ice cream we often had in the freezer. Sometimes it was Orange Sherbet.
3.) Tea and coffee. When I was little I always wanted to drink hot tea and coffee. Probably because everyone in my family drinks tea and/or coffee all day every day. There is a mug in everyone’s hand pretty much at all times. Seriously, my aunt brings one of those industrial coffee pots that you see at functions in church basements with her for Thanksgiving and Christmas because a regular coffee pot cannot keep up with the demand. So anyway, Uncle Tim would let me have a cup of tea every now and then “with the grown-ups” and he would help me make it. I had to microwave the cup of water rather than boil on the stove and then I had to let it brew on the counter for 3 mins before I was allowed to touch it but Uncle Tim stood in the kitchen with me while I waited those few minutes that felt like eternity. When I was somewhere around 10 or so my mom occasionally would let me have a small cappuccino made from powder and hot water out of those convenient store machines and I loved them. Sometimes I would ask Uncle Tim for a dollar for a one of these cappuccinos and then nag my mother to take me to buy one until she gave in. I would be on cloud nine for the full hour that I would sip and savor my hot, sweet, frothy treat. Years later, Uncle Tim and I would spend hours in his room with loose leaf chamomile, lemongrass, lemon balm, and lavender that he purchased in bulk, along with sage and mint he grew in the garden, and make our own tea blends.
4.) He always had tubs of snacks on hand. Whenever we were sitting in his room to chat about life or sort bulk herbs into DIY tea bags he always had a large tin full of popcorn or pretzels handy. He also packed snacks like this to take with him when he went to the gun club or on any road trip. A few years before he passed away he began the process of signing up for a lung transplant list. One of the first things he had to do was spend a few nights in Pittsburgh to take introductory classes and get a few tests run. He packed enough “snacks” for that trip to feed a family of four for a week. We also went to Panera Bread after the hospital each day and sat drinking the free-refill coffee for a couple hours while we debriefed about lessons learned or tests ran that day.
Uncle Tim passed away about a year and a half ago and his absence is still felt very strongly by many. He is thought of and talked about often so I am sure this will not be the last post that you read about him! Those of you who knew Uncle Tim, please feel free to share additional stories in the comment section. Those of you who didn’t know Uncle Tim, feel free to share a memory of one of your loved ones who maybe came to mind while reading this post.