Yum....Sweetbreads

I went into Chicago yesterday on a culinary tour.  I'll be doing that over and over again.  I loved it.  Living in a small town limits you to so many things.  You have to travel to shop for any special item.  I have been dreaming of my Grandma's sweetbreads for a very long time and I got them yesterday at a meat market in Chicago.  Instead of "like a child in a candy shop", I was a child in a meat shop (aka butcher shop in my day). This weekend I will be bringing back a sweet memory as I eat sweetbreads and remember my trips to Grandma and Granddads farm.  It takes at least 24 hours to prep them because you have to soak them in salt water so I have to be patient and wait, but all good things come to those who wait.

I inherited my love of cooking, my diabetes, and my size from Grandma.  She was a great cook and baker.  Granddad was a butcher so they always had meat and potatoes at every meal.  Lots of strange meats were introduced to me as a child.  I remember eating snapping turtle, tongue, brains and anything else that Granddad brought home.  They raised 13 kids so nothing ever went to waste.  Funny sweetbreads are now considered a real gourmet delicacy.

I remember the bacon drippings that always sat on the stove in a coffee can.  Grandma would make milk gravy out of all the meat drippings.  If we had potatoes we had milk gravy.  Oh those pies she made every week.   Ok, now I'm hungry.  I haven't had my breakfast yet, so will end for now.  Have a great day.

Be happy, eat well,  and may God bless you and yours.