Who would have thought my relatively quiet and uneventful morning would have sent me on a journey down memory lane. Cooking has always been a way for me to feel connected to those who’ve gone before me, family members have left recipes and holding those hand written recipe cards or using a passed down kitchen utensil makes my time in the kitchen so much more special.
A treasured memory of mine does indeed involve bacon grease and a mason jar. My cousin’s mom, Kathy gave me my “season” grease jar and would regularly refill it for me as I was in high school learning to cook. Then again after college when I’d moved back closer to home I would answer the door to her daughter Tiffany delivering my bacon grease when Kathy had overfilled her jar or I’d get a call to come by and pick some up, man I loved to get those calls!
Kathy passed away in 2011, leaving her daughter and her family here to miss her. While I have plenty of other happy memories of Kathy and Tiffany, there isn’t a time that goes by when I cook bacon and refill my Mason jar that that sweet lady doesn’t cross my mind…