By Eve Victory
As you may know, I am the Hospitality and Tourism Management Instructor at National Park College.
Every Fall in Food Preparation class, we discuss how food shapes our lives, upbringings, our memories. As an assignment, each student must write a 12-line free verse poem about memories of food. It never ceases to amaze me how personal the poems become, referencing specific moments in time, special aromas, ingredients and traditions.
I then combine the best of each student’s poem and create a Class Food Memory poem. Below is one of my favorites.
Hundreds of peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate
Lemon pie – it’s so fluffy like a cloud
Snapping green beans in the den with Granny
with purple fingers from shelling purple hull peas
The sounds of the French Quarter as I sip gumbo
Beautiful, buttered monkey bread
Belly full of mashed potatoes and gravy
Annie Mae’s fried fish and spaghetti
The crunch of cereal during Saturday morning cartoons
The kiss of mint in peppermint bark meant to be shared
Venison, fried okra, vegetables from the garden;
tons of laughs remembering things forgotten
A warm brownie topped with ice cream? Now that’s what I call heaven!
(My Granny always let me get the first bowl.)
I am now giving all The Springs’ readers the same assignment. Write your own poem, or have each family member pick their favorite food memory and create a Family Food Memory poem. Make a new tradition to treasure with your children and your grandchildren. Holiday Blessings to you all.
A native New Yorker, Eve Victory has called Hot Springs home since 2003. Working for years as an event and tradeshow planner and personal chef, Eve is currently the Hospitality and Tourism Instructor at National Park College. For information on how to turn your education into a career in the second largest industry in Hot Springs, contact Eve at evictory@np.edu.
