I grew up with Tommy and we lived across the street from one another. My mom and I were talking about all the great memories we had of Tommy! She talked about a time Tommy came over and asked to borrow a stick of butter. She thinks he was probably 4th or 5th grade. Anyway, my mom asked him what he was baking. She assumed it would be cookies or something like that. Nope, he said he was making Cornish game hens. I will be honest here, I have never made Cornish game hens and my mom has not either. He was so talented and a joy to be around.
cooking
Contributed by: Meg Smith
Meg,
Cornish game hens! Wow! I’ve never made them either, but your story gave me a big smile. I can just imagine young Tommy coming over to borrow butter…. to make Cornish game hens. 🙂
I remember at some point after moving to NYC, Tommy got very into cooking and was coming up with all sorts of healthy recipes he’d make daily. He didn’t have much space with which to work, but he really made it work! In a city where many people get takeout often, I imagined Tommy’s home cooking scents wafting through the apartment building. I told him everyone was going to want to come over to his place.
He and I used to enjoy imitating Paula Deen (out of love for her personality) and I remember one day Tommy called me to ask, “Do you know how to make a roux?”
I said “No”.
He then went into Paula Deen voice and said, “Equal parts grease and flourrr”
Over time, he applied that line to many things. He’d find a way to answer a question: “Equal parts grease and flourrrr.”
Thanks to Tommy, if I ever need to make a roux, I will know how to do it.
I just now turned to my husband and asked him, “Do you remember how to make a roux?
He looked perplexed.
I said “Equal parts…” and then he smiled and said “grease and flourrrrr” in the same way Tommy would imitate Paula Deen. Thanks to Tommy, Martin can make a roux too.
If you remember any other stories, Meg, please share!
Actually, when Tommy and I were starting to become friends in 6th grade, you came up in conversation even then. Somehow I knew that you lived across the street from Tommy. Surely he must have told me; maybe one day in science class he asked if I knew you and I said you were in another class of mine. One day, I think in 6th grade, you and I ran into each other in the grocery store while our moms were shopping. We were hanging out on the toy aisle and I think I kept pressing the button on the Trouble game, making the dice pop around while I was making a dumb “oooooh!” sound to go with it, as though we were looking at fireworks. Whatever it was we were laughing about, you told Tommy, and then Tommy came to school and told me. He was laughing so hard telling me. I never forgot that because he was so happy about it. At an age when many kids are looking for an opportunity to laugh AT other kids, he was happy to laugh WITH us. As the new girl in school, I was glad to hear you guys laughed about that moment together, rather than labeling me the class weirdo (even though I was a total goofball).
Meg, how old were you both when you met? In my memory, I feel like his family were the first owners of that house and your family were the first owners of the house across the street, but I’m not sure of that. I feel like he told me he moved in when he was 4, but I’m not sure.