What will your legacy be?

Before I get started with this week's post dear bleaders, I have a favor to ask of you. This is the 26th consecutive post, and it marks the halfway point in my 52 week blogging challenge. It has been a wonderful experiment/experience, and, though challenging, it has been well worth the effort! At this point, I'd like to ask each of you to forward this blog on to two or three people whom you think might enjoy reading it. I'd like to see if I can grow my readership a little. Obviously, this is totally up to your discretion, but if you know people who might be interested, I'd greatly appreciate the help!

Now on to legacies. Do you ever think about what you will leave behind when you end your time on earth? Do you think about your children,,,and your children's children...and your children's children's children? Do you think about a business you've built? Or a book you've written? Or a quilt you've sewn? Do you think about the countless number of lives you've touched through teaching, or preaching or nurturing or mentoring or advising? Do you think about food?
Yes, I know it is the week after Thanksgiving, and you may not want to think about food again for a very long while  but bear with me! My father's mother Reba was a native of Israel who immigrated to the US with her husband and raised her family here. Many of my memories of her involve food; ironically, most of the food she cooked was not very good. However, she took great care in making sure that each holiday, food was sent to us in Chicago (and later in Houston) from her home in Philadelphia. If she was coming to visit for the holiday, she would bring tins of food in her suitcase. Her cookies were always hard and dry. For Purim, she made hamentaschen (triangular shaped cookies) that crumbled as you tried to eat them. Still, I felt like I was eating love each time I bit into one of her treats. I can remember how each little cookie was hidden in crinkly Saran Wrap and aluminum foil, each morsel packaged like a gift.


One of her recipes was actually really good; that was her eggplant dip. I'm sure I've tweaked it a little (as I am wont to do) but it remains primarily hers, and when I make it, I remember Reba. It was the only request my sister Amy asked for as a birthday gift this year!

Ingredients:

6 whole eggplants

6 cloves garlic

1/2 bunch of parsley

salt/pepper

1 tablespoon sugar

5-6 lemons

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon sugar

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 425

Cut off tops of eggplants and poke  a few holes in the sides to vent

roast for 45-60 minutes or until they look shriveled and wrinkly

Let eggplants cool

Scoop out flesh (avoid getting the skin) and add to food processor

Add lemon juice and garlic cloves and parsley and sugar---Pulse

Then drizzle in the olive oil and mix.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve chilled with whole wheat crackers or pita crisps.

As you interact with family  and friends this week, as you make people at work laugh or you call someone a special nickname, or you cook dinner for a friend who is under the weather, or you write a poem, or send a card-- think about all the little ways that you are making a big impression on those around you...one lovely stale cookie at a time :)

Rachel