Bena Mae’s Kitchen:

Grandparents talk to your grandchildren
 

Grandchildren are the dots that connect the lines from generation to generation. Louise Wyse.

Being a grandparent is one of the most wonderful experiences one can have, as most grandparents will tell you.

I don’t remember much about my own grandparents, they died before I got a chance to know them well. But word from my mother and aunts told me that my maternal grandmother was an angel.

I only have one grandchild, a boy, who has been the joy of my life. We are very close. I try to instill within him a sense of family heritage, where he came from, his forbearers — warts and all. I want him to know that the world didn’t start on the day he was born. It will be important to him in his older years in giving him a sense of history and continuity.

I want him to know that his great grandfathers on both sides were honorable, hardworking men with a work ethic that followed them throughout their lives.

I want him to know that his paternal great grandfather seined the Clinch River for mussel shells he sold to button factories in order to pay the electric bill ($2.98) each month, never late, always on time. That he farmed several acres of land and held down a full-time job in a knitting factory.

He was a kind gentle man, honest to the core, always willing to help a neighbor in distress. He never drank or abused his family, his only discretion being a swig of moonshine he drank first thing in the morning, he said to get him started. He called it his “starter” and that was the extent of his drinking. He also served with the American forces in the trenches of France during WWI. He was what you call a “good man.”

I want my grandson to know that my own father was orphaned at an early age and raised by a sister. That he went to work at the age of ten, working on the tunnel between Cumberland Gap and Middlesboro. That he was mostly self-educated, taking correspondence courses by lamplight after a hard days work where he learned his trade of building roads and bridges across parts of Kentucky. He always managed to put food on the table for his large family.

His reputation for truth and honesty was widely known, and he died with a good name that he prized all his life.

I want to be sure to instill a measure of belonging in my grandson. I want him to feel the security of the past, that the world didn’t just start the day he was born.

So grandparents, start early with your most beloved grandchildren. Tell them their history. Teach them from whence they came. They will feel the rewards later in life.

Cuban Sliders

Ingredients
24 pack of Hawaiian rolls
1 package of sliced ham lunch meat
1 package of 8 slices of swiss cheese
Dill pickles
Dijon Spread
2 tablespoons minced onion
1 stick of melted butter
2 tablespoons dijon mustard

Instructions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Grease 9×13 baking pan.
Cut the Hawaiian rolls in half removing the top and placing the bottom of the rolls in the baking pan. Layer the meat, cheese, and pickles. Place the top of the rolls on top.

Dijon Spread
Whisk together the butter and the dijon mustard. Add in the minced onion and stir. With a spoon pour the dijon spread over the top of the rolls.
Cover the sliders with foil and bake for 15 minutes.
Remove the foil and continue to bake for an additional 10 minutes or until the rolls are a toasted brown.
Cut the sliders and remove from the baking pan. Enjoy!