Sister Stuff

My sister is one of the best cooks I know and a woman who can bake anyone under the table with her delicious homemade goodies at holiday time. There are some signature dishes she makes that when we get together, she has to make them for me.

Kath is in Maine and I am in Pennsylvania, so we don’t get together as often as we ought or want to, considering we are the only siblings in our family of deceased parents. We share a father and have different mothers. She looks exactly like her mother (who died before Kath was a year old) and I look just like mine. We both have our father’s sense of humor, which seemed to help us survive some very difficult times over the years.

Mom and Dad married when Kath was about 8 years old, so there’s quite a difference in age, but you’d never, ever know it.

My mother wasn’t terrifically enthusiastic about cooking, but her mother was and took my sister under her wing and showed her some tricks. Along with her high school home economics classes (yup, we’re so old we can remember them) and Grandmom, she turned into quite the capable cook.

Kath has quite the repertoire of dishes…let me see if I can list them here…

Spaghetti – made with homemade tomato gravy
Jewish Apple Cake
Creamed Cabbage
Beer Bread
Pizzelles
Baked Beans
Thumbprint cookies
Kilbasa and Sauerkraut
Conga Bars
Fried Chicken
Meatball sandwiches
Chicken Salad
Fried Cabbage and Noodles
Macaroni Salad
Potato Salad
Broccoli Casserole
Did I mention Jewish Apple Cake?
Cheese cake --- she could go into business and retire in a year with this recipe!
Russian Tea Cakes
Apple Pie
Summer Squash Casserole
Meat pies
Lobster rolls


She is always making something when I call or just made something in the past week for someone’s birthday party, baby or bridal shower or someone’s funeral. Kath loves to cook and bake for others.

Food is not only part of our culture as a people, but for many of us, it’s a display of love and affection for those around us. Do something nice for me and I’ll cook you dinner to show my appreciation. Holidays are the times to be with loved ones and food is just one way of expressing love. I don’t bring lots of food to a gathering to show off my talents. I bring it to share what I love with those I love. My sister is the same way and how I appreciate getting together with her!

As a cook myself, it is hard to not cook for her when we visit one another, but she wants to make the meals…starting with breakfast and while we’re eating that, she’s planning what to have for lunch or if we’re going out that day, we’ll eat out, so we discuss the items we need for dinner. I have to slow her down, but with her energy it can be hard. When she’s on the prowl for something yummy, there’s no stopping her.

I often think I’d like to go into business with her and open a small breakfast/lunch place up in Maine. She’s a hard worker and takes an almost severe sense of pride in her cooking and baking talents. We could clean up, that’s for sure! Her with the cooking and baking, I with my marketing experience and my restaurant/cooking background, we could have a grand time and really enjoy being with one another.

I just know Maine would be so much the better for it!