New Years Day & French Onion Tang

It's a new year, and with a new year comes new thoughts and wishes and hopes and dreams.

One year ago today, I spent the day with my mom while my dad, my husband, my brother and his father-in-law went to the Winter Classic in Detroit. The Leafs versus the Red Wings. The game of the century, and an experience never to forget. Little did we know that just 2 months later, my dad would have a stroke, and would end his journey here on earth. That day is now a beautiful memory for my brother as he was like a kid in a candy store, and he got to be there with our dad. I was at home with my mom, where we were nice and warm, eating yummy Dutch treats, and watching the game on television.

A year later, I again spent the day with my mom, this time at her house, this time with my sister and brother and their families, and with my uncle and aunt. It was great to start the year together. A new year with new hopes and dreams and ideas and prayers. We enjoyed time to chat, time to listen to babies babble, time to watch the kids play, time to watch the wind blow and the snow fall, time to reminisce, time to laugh, and time to eat. Of course, we ate, and we ate a lot: chocolate and pie, pancakes and popsicles, and croquettes and oliebollen (Dutch treats too oily and greasy to be anything but bad for you but they taste amazing).

My mom is amazing, and crazy, but good crazy. She really should write a book, but today I had to chronicle a little thing that is just typical of her, and we love her for it. She is a great grandma, and loves to let her grandkids do things that their parents may consider unthinkable - for example, eating freezies one after the other all day, eating chocolate for breakfast, cutting the grass at a very young age, you get the idea. Today, though, it was a simple matter of having my eldest son "help" her. After breaking an egg on the floor, and quickly wiping it up, she had him stirring the batter, and the pancakes would be cooking shortly for lunch.

Next, it was on to making some Tang. If you have made Tang, you know how simple it is: just throw the crystals in, mix in some water, and bang, you have Tang. Sweet, sweet, yummy, delicious Tang. However, in my mom's kitchen things sometimes get a little mixed up. So my son dumped the second bag of crystals in, and started to mix up the drink, but something didn't look quite right. My mom took a look at it, and let out a, "Whoops! Oh dear!" Sure enough, that second package was not the regular Tang crystals, it was a pouch of French Onion Soup Mix that had gotten put in with the Tang pouches. Needless to say, that French Onion Tang headed down the drain! My mom, being the quick-on-her-feet grandma that she is, had the next batch of Tang ready to go in no time, and the grandkids' thirst was quenched with some sweet, sweet, yummy, delicious Tang!

Thanks for a great day of great memories, Mom! I love you! Here's to 2015 and all that God has in store for us.