BILL GRAY with CHOP SUEY VOLCANO ERUPTION story

Chop Suey. For whatever reason Mom had a great recipe for chop suey. And like all things she cooked there was always enough to feed at least 13 people, an odd number, huh? At any rate, there was always enough left over for dinner the next day and we could always count on having it at least 2 days in a row. This was another dish that Dad wouldn't touch. Mom didn't care, she made it anyway. But the 2nd day always required a bit of a thickening agent as it would separate slightly overnight in the fridge. I knew Mom put something white in it and it wasn't flour because it came from a fairly small box. On night 2, she's working a banquet at the Villa so Deb and I are on our own for dinner. I just need to heat it up and make some rice. No problem. But, exactly what was the stuff that thickens it? There are two boxes about the same size in the kitchen cabinet - corn starch and baking soda. Corn starch was the better choice but what did I know? About 2 tablespoons of baking soda later and the kitchen turned into the "mad scientists lab." This stuff starts gurgling and boiling and erupts into a huge cloud of chop suey that is soon all over the stove and counter top before I can get the stove turned off and the mess in the pan cooled down. Of course, since I had ruined her dinner I caught hell from my sister who showed no sense of sympathy for my situation or the mess. Can't remember what we did eat, probably Kraft mac & cheese and chocolate ice cream.

DEBBIE GRAY with more on MOM & DAD & GARLIC

The other funny thing about dad & garlic was he'd rave during and after the meal about what great flavor that roast had!  The rest of us would look at each other & grin.  If he had known it was full of garlic he never would have touched it.  As long as he didn't know, couldn't get enough of it.  His brother GUY, who owned the circus, once sent us a wreath for our door made out of garlic just to get Dad!  Mom loved that and proudly hung it on our side door that we always used coming into the house.  Dad had a great sense of humor and laughed about it, too!
PS  That struggling with boiling water remark is slightly exaggerated.  Slightly.

BILL GRAY on GARLIC, MOM's (NINA) POT ROAST & DAD'S (BILL) REACTION

Garlic. As we all know, a necessary ingredient in anything that is to be eaten. And I do mean anything. That was Mom's take on it, anyway. Garlic was probably the one constant in all of our meals. The problem was Dad wouldn't eat anything with garlic in it. Gave him indigestion, didn't like the taste. If he knew or had any idea of how much garlic he ate in his life he would have been surprised, to say the least. Here's Mom preparing a pot roast for Sunday dinner, recipe to follow: standing 10-12 feet from Dad she preps the roast by poking holes in it large enough to fit in a clove of garlic. This continued until all of the garlic from a head was used up. There's more to the recipe, but you get the idea. Later, as the roast is done and she's getting the gravy going we always had to have dinner rolls. Of course, they were dosed liberally with garlic powder prior to baking. We'd put a toothpick in the one that had no garlic - that was for Dad. Only, sometimes we forgot to add it, sometimes it fell out. Hell, most times that's what happened. So a toothpick got stuck in any one roll at random and Dad was ok because it had a toothpick in it and that meant "no garlic". He had a good appetite and never said a word. Fortunately, Deb (my wife that is, as we all know my sister struggles boiling water) learned how to make that roast and gravy and we continue to enjoy it to this day. Bill G.

GARY BONIKOWSKI comments on DEBBIE GRAY post regarding AUNT LOUISE & SPORTS

And that is why Mom sat on one side of the Fieldhouse and Dad on the other for Bradley games. When any sporting event was on TV, we usually ended up sending Mom to the kitchen so that the rest of us could watch it in peace

DEBBIE GRAY'S MEMORY of AUNTS & MOM at HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL GAME

I have a story involving mom, Aunt Louise, Aunt Verna and Aunt Elda.  Don’t remember Aunt Elda being there but she must have been as Sandy was on the team and she came to all the games.  Anyway, they used to come to our high school basketball games which started my senior year due to Title 9.  

This particular game was held in Spalding’s gym which was pretty big.  The only people who attended these games were family and friends so it was easy to hear anybody if they were yelling.

Aunt Louise would yell at our games just like she did at the Bradley games she went to.  At the Bradley games she & Joann Ehmann sat 6 rows behind the visitors bench and they rode the refs and visiting team unmercifully the entire game.  However, at our games, the aunts voices were easily heard by all.

So, they were doing their usual yelling and the refs on this day didn’t appreciate it.  One of them went by the aunts (they always sat right up front by the court) and told them to pipe down.  Of course Aunt Louise yelled “if you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen!”  At this point somebody sitting across the aisle from them also yelled something at them.  I don’t remember what she yelled but Aunt Verna got up and yelled back at this lady something or other and then finished it off with “and you’re no spring chicken yourself!”

Well, I can remember wanting to disappear through the floor while the refs stopped the game, went over to our coach and told her if those ladies didn’t quiet down we would be forfeiting the game!  So, our coach had to walk across the court over to mom and the aunts to ask them to tone it down.  I guess they did as we did manage to finish the game without further interruption.  Don’t remember who won, though!