Archives at Zinester: Special Storytime Tapestry Treat - Carol Roach. Storytime

? ? ? ?

STORYTIME TAPESTRY

March 4, 2005

Here is the move you have all been waiting for.? We're here at last, and hoping Zinester will remain our home.? Come in, sit down, take your shoes off and make yourself comfortable.? The stories are just about to begin!

A SPECIAL TREAT TODAY

from:

CAROL ROACH

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
FAVOURITE YET UNATTAINABLE FOODS

By,

Carol Roach

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

When I think of my favourite food, I have to wonder what could I
choose? I love so many kinds of foods.? If you see me you would
understand why. I am obese.? Food has been my solace all my life.
Food has been my love and my companion. Food has been there for me
when I felt that nobody else was.? Food never let me down. It was
always there; always waiting for me to shove my face and feed my
empty soul.

I never learned that filling my face could not possibly fill the
loneliness that I felt. I know it logically, but I still cannot own
that truth emotionally.

Food is still comfort, still love, and still a cure for what ails me.
Paradoxically, it is also my chosen response for what ails me as well.

I will now talk about my comfort foods. We start with shortbread
cookies.? I simply cannot eat them for when I start, I cannot stop.
I love the butter flavour, I love the vanilla, or lemon or whatever
flavour is added to the mixture.? The texture is heavy, it is good,
it is filling, and it feels warm as it descends my throat.? It makes
me feel happy, and warm, and loved.? I know I shouldn't eat them, but
I shove my face until they are all gone.? I have not bought
shortbread biscuits for ages, I doubt if I will again. But if someone
buys them for me, I will eat the whole box.? I just can't control my
impulses.

My second forbidden food choice is brown sugar squares.? The baking
of brown sugar squares started in my grandmother's kitchen while she
was baking pies. My aunt and I watched my grandmother prepare brown
sugar squares all of our lives. Ma, as I always called her, would
roll out the pie dough and fit it nicely inside the pie plates. She
would take a knife and trim the edges so her pies were neat and tidy.
She would make indents around the edges with a fork on all of the
pies.? After the pies were in the oven she would take the dough
castoffs and roll it out.? She would place brown sugar and cinnamon
in the dough and run the rolling pin over it yet again.? The next
step was to cover the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture with the
remaining dough from the pies and bake them in the oven.

Oh the smell, the wonderful smell. My mouth would just water in
anticipation of the little taste of heaven that was yet to come. I
couldn't wait to bite into the yummy brown sugar and cinnamon squares.

My grandmother would take them out the oven, let them cool down, and
then cut the long roll into single squares.? I couldn't get enough of
them.? Psychologists tell us that our olfactory sense is the most
powerful sense we have, and the one that most memories are triggered
by. My most vivid memory is the smell of my grandmother's kitchen
after baking her brown sugar squares: It was the smell of home and
the smell of love.

I have had several types of cinnamon squares since I grew up, but
none could compare with my grandmother's cinnamon squares.? The
latter were mere imitations, no resemblance whatsoever to the
originals. They were either too hard, lacked brown sugar, had little
or no cinnamon, or tasted too doughy or too bland.

Neither my Aunt nor I could ever replicate those squares. No matter
how we tried, we never could get them to come out right.? The squares
were usually too hard. The brown sugar just did not blend properly.

We do not know what we do wrong.? Perhaps it is because we do not
make them with the same measure of love.? We can follow a recipe, but
to be able to do what those loving hands did so many years before is
something that no recipe can teach us.

Gone now is a family delight that will never be repeated.? My son has
never tasted real brown sugar and cinnamon squares made with just the
right amount of love.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SENIOR WRITERS

Agee,Vance, Apted,Violet, Baker,Kathy, Batt,Al, Berry,Nell,

Boda,Ginger, Bryant,Sharon, Cassady,B.J., Crider,Mark,? Deming,Barb,? ? Goodier,Steve,

Harris,Kathy Anne, Jacobson,Gary, Kiser,Roger Dean,? ? Jenkins,Pamela, Liles,Norma,

Mazzella,Joe, Moore, Loren,? ? Ojeigbe,Georgewaters, Sims,Richard, Vaknin,Sam,

Walker,Joe, Whirity,Kathy,? White,Robert

STORYTIME TAPESTRY STAFF

Publisher: Carol Roach-founder

Moderator: Thelma Hartselle-co founder

Chief writer: Loren Moore-co founder,

Co-Publisher, Moderator: Kathy Baker

Moderator, Publicity Director

Moderator: Clara Wersterfer

**************************************************************? ?

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

? ? ? ? ? Comment Section/Prayer Requests

*******************************************

Feedback Section

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~?

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?