We celebrate someone by remembering those things he or she enjoyed.
I think my father would have thought this rather fun.
He was someone who found pleasure in lots of things.
I'm not sure what he would have made of the traditional marigolds - not being much of a flower man.
More a person who valued function over form.
And what should we do to celebrate him?
We would go to church and sing stirring hymns rather loudly.
Maybe the old one which says: The trivial round the common task/Should furnish all I need to ask
We would enjoy small things.
This picture is of the recipes Dad copied out in his very neat handwriting in a POW camp in Germany when there was very little food to be had at all -so they had to write about it instead.
Our menu for the day would include, bacon, blackberry and apple pie with double cream, and welsh rarebit. A tankard of beer.
Because it's Sunday, we wouldn't be able to put on our patent leather shoes and go dancing.
Instead we'd do the Times crossword in ink. Take the dog for a walk and then play bridge.
We'd read Sherlock Holmes stories or listen to Gilbert and Sullivan on the radiogram.
Maybe last of all watch Perry Mason on television.........
I can't help but be intrigued by the fact that you posted this in the middle of the night! Couldn't sleep?
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely way to honour your father . . . and his menu sounds delicious. I made a blackberry and apple pie very recently. I was really intrigued by the fact that he made a journal of "remembered" (dreamed about?) food when he was in POW camp. This appeals to me enormously, and I think it's wonderful that you still have this unique document. BTW, I visited Persephone this week and got lots of inspiring things . . . including Mollie P-D's book of WWII stories. Thank you so much for that great tip . . . and all of the ongoing inspiration you provide.
what a beautiful work!!! and also a great tribute to your father!!! thanks for your nice comment on my blog.
ReplyDeletegreetings from Holland.
A really wonderful post and what a great way to honor your father!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the kind comment on my blog - hope you will visit again sometime :)
Greetings from the cold Germany
Gaby
This is such a beautiful tribute to your father! His picture with the flowers make a stunning photo! I like that you would go to church and sing stirring hymns rather loudly. :)
ReplyDeleteThe photo in my header I found browsing through Google images. It looks like it was taken around WWII and I would guess in England.
Wow, very cool. I love the menu. Journaling about food in a POW camp is quite the visual for me. What an amazing post.
ReplyDeletexo
Wonderful tribute, Elizabeth. I like how you decorated with the flowers. I enjoyed reading about your good memories. What a handsome man. I like his smile.
ReplyDeletePaz
I think that was so wonderful. His menu does sound delicous. I think his keeping a journal is one of the best things a person can do. Your remembrance of him is touching and sweet. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteIt is wonderful that you still have the recipe book/journal I have many things of my mothers that bring her to life when i read them,hugs Juliet
ReplyDeleteso sweet and so Elizabeth - what a wonderful tribute!
ReplyDeletexox - eb.
Elizabeth, this was a lovely tribute to your dad. Actually, from what I have seen and read, I would say that You are a tribute to your dad every day.
ReplyDeleteSurely, your grand feeling for life and the wonders of imagination might just have gotten a little early boost from that gentleman?
xo
Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteThank you for this beautiful tribute to your father, the pages you have that he wrote while a POW...what a treasure!
thank you too for being part of this Dia de Bloglandia celebration!!
x..x
steph
Lovely memories.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of the day of the dead. I'm doing an art project (loosly based on the wonderful designs used in Mexico ) at school with a group of children :)So much nicer than Hallowe'en
Viva El Dia de Bloglandia!
ReplyDeleteI was trying to remember what marigolds smelled like--peppery?
I was also amazed by the recipes in the journal. I wonder it made it easier for him to be in the POW camp to think about all of those delicious dishes?
XO from England
Some thoughts.
ReplyDeleteFirst what lovely kind comments!
About the recipes - there are lots and lots of them - English, American, Indian, Canadian - reflecting the inmates of the camp.
If any keen cooking types, or collectors of old recipes, are interested, I'll send copies to you.
A beautiful tribute to your Father.
ReplyDeleteI found your Father's journal very interesting. My Father was in WWII and was in charge of the food...he has told us about many strange combinations of food, when they used what they had at hand.
It sounds like I would have loved those days with you and your family .Those recipes are certainly ones to cherish. We should make photo copies and do an altered commemorative book.
ReplyDeleteDouble cream? mmmmm Beautiful marigolds, so carefully spread.
I am truly amazed by the recipes and where he wrote them. What stories he must have had, what experiences. It is such a treasure you have them and can honor your Dad in this lovely way.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful tribute.
ReplyDeleteI think your dad and I would have gotten on famously! Except for the church, singing loudly part... Thanks for sharing and I loved the simplicity of the photo and flowers.
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice tribute to your father! I was thinking that his journal has its modern equivalent in your blog.
ReplyDeleteSaludos to you and your padre. How sacred is that recipe book? It moves me to imagine what your father has been through.
ReplyDeleteBeutiful tribute, thank you for sharing.
Yoli
What a wonderful idea! I really enjoyed this post about your dad. And something really touched me at the thought of him copying out recipes at a POW camp.
ReplyDeleteA very moving post indeed. How wonderful that you have something of your father's from his internment at a POW camp. When our loved ones move on to the next realm, it is such a treasure to have things like this to keep us connected.
ReplyDeleteI love the photos and the approach you took to this celebration!!
ReplyDeleteYes, Elizabeth, I'm quite sure that our dads would have gotten along quite well. Doesn't it seem like they belong to an entirely different age? I mean, I know that they do, but it seems that generation stands out on its own.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE that you have your father's journal of recipes and menus from WWII. That book is a story upon itself! I wonder if your mom ever referred to it when preparing a Sunday dinner?
And I know that you are adopted but I swear that you and your dad have the same twinkle in your eyes. :)
I love the flower petals on both the picture of your dad and the recipes he wrote out - it looks so lovely. :)
ReplyDeleteHappy Dia de los Muertos!
Your post drew me in, like when a film uses a moment's sliver of out of focus and suddenly you find yourself seeing the flashback through your own eyes. A lovely tribute to both your father and a time long past.
ReplyDeleteThis is a beautiful post in tribute to your father, Elizabeth. Like the others, I am fascinated by your father's journal of recipes written while he was a POW. Oh, how they must all have dreamed of good food. I can almost imagine them sitting around and dictating the things they longed for as your dad carefully jotted down the ingredients. I would love to see this, and also I think Karen's idea of an altered commemorative book is great.
ReplyDeleteA lovely tribute to your dad. Glad you joined the Bloglandia event. Fran
ReplyDeleteI love this post Lizabeth!!!
ReplyDeleteHow you shared your words and the creative photos too! The essence of your father is here so much that I feel I may perhaps know a bit more about you.
A toast to your Papa!!
He looks marvelous surrounded by marigolds. I think he would approve! Yes!
Hugs from Texas!
Constance
This is a beautiful post and I love your images too.
ReplyDeleteI can completey understand your father's facination with food under the circumstances. Many, many years ago, I was stuck in Mexico with my car off for repairs and I had no money for food. My friend and I told each other stories of the wonderful meals we'd once had and the meal's we were going to have when we finally got home. We were so hungry and we became obsessed with food! His recipes are such a treasure to have.
I loved hearing about your Dad. He sounded like a wonderful man!
ReplyDeleteAll I can say is "wow". The elegant simplicity of your photos and your father's recipe writing moved me deeply. Dreaming of food, writing recipes: it's probably how he maintained his sanity and his humanity during his internment. I loved your descriptions of your family's Sunday routine. Wonderful memories!
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Mary
Sounds like a perfect day for your father. I'm intrigued by your reference to a POW camp in Germany in WWII. I suspect your father was an amazing man!
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting post :D You should have seen how the chinese celebrate here...they buy lots of everything, house, car, money, DVD, anything-all made in paper, and burn them as offereing to the dead. Not very eco-friendly right? I should do a post on that one day, unlike in the west where everything is celebrated calmly and with a twist of fun, here's kinda spooky. Parents will forbade children to go out at night to avoid night spirits..even their graves are spooky, unlike the Christians graves. tks for the compliment on the collages..i was about to take them down wondering if they were crowded..but guess, I'll leave them on for a while. Hope you have a good week ahead...still got Friday and saturday for those party shoes ;p
ReplyDeletebig hugs always
What a moving tribute to your Father. Thank you for visiting my blog and sharing in this day.
ReplyDeleteSounds like your father was an amazing man. I think he would have been touched by your simple, yet powerful tribute to him. Including the flowers!
ReplyDeleteWonderful. Sound like you would have a perfect day celebrating him!
ReplyDeleteI like the idea' We all celebrate peoples' lives at the time of their death but it would be lovely to think that one might be remembered on a Day of the Dead as well. Have you planned your own yet?
ReplyDeleteBeautiful tribute to your father.
ReplyDeleteIt's a beautiful post Elisabeth, beautiful rending to your Dad, mine passed away only 3 years ago, I miss him, he was still a young man during war. I had heard of these POW writing recipes and remembering all the good food they had before war at a time they had so little to eat. His recipes booklet is a real treasure.
ReplyDeleteI'm late making the rounds but wanted to say how much I liked your Dia de los Muertos tribute. The inclusion of your father's recipes really moved me and I enjoyed the English flavor of your observance. Lovely!
ReplyDeleteI loved this blog - every aspect of it. Isn't it strange that those deprived of food talked about it or wrote about it the whole time.
ReplyDeleteSo touching, I am sure your Dad would have approved. Wonderful entry.
ReplyDeleteI loved this tribute as you picked vivid descriptions of your father...the recipes he wrote out are amazing and heartbreaking at the same time. thank you for sharing this. love, K
ReplyDeleteWonderful tribute to your dad!
ReplyDeleteMy father in law was a prisonor of war too -- in England! He was in the Italian Army and captured in battle in Northern Africa. He said he was very well treated by the British and he even learned to speak English from those years, which served him well when he immigrated to the Us with his family when my husband was a young boy.
What a touching story and lovely tribute to your father. Next time I have a tankard of beer (was he British?) I'll be sure to think of him. best wishes amanda
ReplyDeleteAhh I see now he was British, I thought so by the nature of your menu! You can always tell! amanda
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful, thoughtful tribute honoring your dad, Elizabeth... My dad is gone too, and that generation left such a deep imprint on us. I couldn't help but see the similarities between your father and mine. Sweet and sad... for us, that miss them! Really wonderful post.
ReplyDeletexoxo
Karen from A`Musements
I love this tribute to your father and I love how you used the marigolds in your pictures.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! The marigolds laying across your father's photo and recipes is very moving. Thank you for sharing your father's stories.
ReplyDelete