"Macaroni Salad," Wendy Bradshaw (Snyder)

Nick-

Here is my first story.  It has been rattling around in my brain for some time.  Thank you for reminding me to write.  This first one is dedicated to food. J

                  I really got to know Aunt Dorothy when I moved to El Cajon in the spring of 1983.  I was nine.  I was lucky enough to live around the corner from her.  Since I only lived around the corner, walking over to see my cousins was an easy thing to do.  I had the unique opportunity to spend time with Aunt Dorothy because Lu and I are the same age.

                Aunt Dorothy opened my eyes to some wonderful culinary delights.  She introduced to me to chocolate filled donuts from the Donut Center.  The donut Center was a great little drive-thru donut shop.  Aunt Dorothy would take me and Lu there after seminary on our way to school.  The first time I tasted chocolate filled donuts, I thought I was in heaven.  I still dream about those donuts. 

Chocolate dipped ice cream cones from Foster’s Freeze were one of Aunt Dorothy’s favorites.  She loved taking us to Foster’s Freeze for dipped cones after we went to the beach.  It was always so nice to have a cool cone while sitting outside Foster’s Freeze in the blazing hot El Cajon summer heat.

I had never tasted a rolled taco until one time Aunt Dorothy told me to try one.  I thought they looked funny, but oh, they tasted good.  Aunt Dorothy would only buy rolled tacos from the Mexican place on Main Street.  I think it had “-erto” in the name somewhere.  Aunt Dorothy also made me try a fantastic microwave snack called a bagel dog.  Who new a bagel and a hot dog combined would taste so yummy?  Apparently, Aunt Dorothy did.

Aunt Dorothy taught me some really neat things about baking and cooking.  She showed me how the use a paper bag to cool cookies if you didn’t have a cooling rack.  I used the paper bag method of cooling baked goodies until I could afford a cooling rack.  I still use a paper bag when I run out of room on my cooling racks.  Once, Aunt Dorothy made rice crispy treats out of a cereal other than rice crispies.  She used a cereal called Triples (no longer made).  At that point in my life, I never knew that you substitute different ingredients for things.  But, Aunt Dorothy showed me that you could.  Triples treats were so good.  She also introduced me to funnel cakes.  I now have learned how to make those.  One of my all time favorite things Aunt Dorothy made was her macaroni salad.  I always loved when she made it.  I have been trying for years to recreate it.

I am pretty sure Aunt Dorothy like to bake, but sometimes she did not like to cook.  Every Christmas Eve we would get together at my house to eat, play games, eat and open presents.  We always had a ton of food.  Well, one year Aunt Dorothy didn’t feel like cooking, so she brought a big box of chicken Mcnuggets to our Christmas Eve celebration.  After that year a tradition was born.  Chicken nuggets were always part of our Christmas Eve feast.  This tradition carried on years after Aunt Dorothy passed away.

Aunt Dorothy certainly made an impression on me.  She always encouraged me to try new foods.  She also showed me how to change things up to make food even better!

-Wendy Bradshaw