COOKING IN GRANNY'S MEMORY

The last few weeks I've wanted to call Granny, but that's obviously not possible anymore. Our phone calls had moved from chatting about everything under the sun ... to her forgetting names of my family members ... to forgetting my name ... to having the same conversation every single phone call. But she remembered a few details about our family ... and she knew we were the ones pictured on the photo calendar we sent her ... and she got giddy every time I called. As predictable as our conversations had become, the finality of never having them again is a bummer.

Since I can't call her, last week I decided to put one of her old recipes on our menu for this week. You all know about her awesome cornbread and I make her delicious zuke cookies a few times a year, but I went farther back and made something I hadn't made in years. Salmon loaf. I served it with a double batch of champ, then mixed it all together in one mound of comfort food tonight.

It didn't look very appetizing, but it hit the spot, both physically by filling my stomach and emotionally by remembering how many times I ate salmon loaf at Granny's. She'd always serve it in a sandwich - mayo on the bread, a slice of meatloaf and some lettuce in the middle. I think I'll eat the leftovers that way in the next couple of days, just for old times' sake.