Special memories, special foods

Do you have any particular food that triggers a memory?  Say, for instance, does rocky road ice cream remind you of when you were pregnant and would go through a whole half-gallon carton by yourself? Or does a certain dish remind you of a certain person?  Like, a certain type of yeast roll remind you of a certain aunt who always made them?  (Those are called Polly Buns in our family, after Aunt Polly, my great-aunt who developed her own recipe and no matter how hard we try, no one can get them exactly like she did.  Though my mother comes awfully close!)

I have several examples in my own life (see above...) but the one on my mind lately has been brie and raspberries.  Until I moved to Alaska 7 years ago, I had never even heard of brie.  I grew up poor in a little town in Southeast Missouri.  After I got married we floated around...Southeast Missouri, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky...and always too poor to notice "frou frou food".  My parents moved to Alaska shortly after I was married and, until 7 years ago, I hadn't lived near them in many years.  The past 7 years near my parents were pretty awesome, not gonna lie. 

Every holiday, they would host a huge get-together at their house.  Easter, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Eve were the huge ones, where they invited everyone they knew.  It was no odd thing to have 40+ people over for those.  Then we had just our family ones...Mother's Day, Father's Day, all birthdays.  And then of course just....hanging out.  My dad is a grill master.  The man does amazing things with a grill.  And everyone around wants to be invited when he fires that bad boy up.  (which, honestly, was every night during the summer.  And I actually have photos of him grilling in a snowstorm.)  Foods that will forever remind me of my dad's grilling include blackened salmon, corn on the cob, and reindeer sausage.

There are two things that will always remind me of my mother.  Tea and brie.  She loves tea, my mother.  She collects tea pots.  She loves tea parties.  While I'm not big on tea parties or tea, she hooked me with the brie.  The first time she made it for me I thought she was nuts.  WHY are we putting raspberry sauce on melted cheese??  Ewwww. Talk about frou-fou food! But I humored her.  And it was amazing.  And it became of a bit of a tradition.  In fact, she changed it up and did some kind of maple and nut topping once.  I disapproved.  A lot.  I mean, it was ok.  But not right. Sometimes she'd do it both ways if my sisters were joining us.  But she always had the raspberry version available for me. 

And then....they moved.  My dad was called to take a pastorate at a small church in Michigan.  So I bought his big gas grill (my sister bought the big charcoal grill. Yeah, he had 2 huge grills.  40+ people...he had to have both grills!) and we packed them up and waved goodbye.  They've been gone a little over 4 months now.  This weekend my sister and I set up the gas grill and used it for the first time.  It didn't taste the same without Daddy doing it. 

With all of the emotional stuff happening in my life right now, I have been missing my parents a lot.  And Friday night while grocery shopping, I saw a baby brie on clearance.  I knew I had to have it.  So I looped back around to the raspberries.  Last night, for my dinner, I popped the brie in the oven and made Mom's raspberry sauce to pour over the top.  I cut up my french baguette and set myself up a cute little table.  My sons were asking what on earth I was doing.  Why was I having brie?  Nana isn't here...  No, Nana isn't here. But it was almost like she was sitting with me.  I wish she had been sitting with me.  That was the first time I've had brie alone.  But it made me feel just a little closer to her.  And I think brie and raspberries has just become a major comfort food. 



Mom's Brie and Raspberries
1 brie (I used a baby brie, but we've had larger with more people, of course)
1 bag of frozen raspberries (of course can use fresh)
Sugar to taste
1 french baguette

Put the brie on a pie plate or in a brie roaster.  Put in the oven at 350 until soft.  While that is in the oven, put raspberries in a small saucepan. Add just a dash of water and sugar to taste.  Stir frequently over medium heat until heated through.  Slice baguette.

To serve, place brie on a plate and pour raspberry sauce over the top.  Scoop cheese and sauce onto bread slices and enjoy.