It seems AMAZING that I still make this recipe our neighbor, Betty Neale, gave my mother about 65 years ago. I also make Eric Carlson's skirt steak though the recipe doesn't carry his name. The Carlsons and the Neales were our Bel Forest neighbors in Bellevue, Washington, along with the Madisons, and the Nelsons, cousins who lived across the street. Not a surprise that recipes - especially eponymous ones on well-worn cards - are invested with so many memories. But I enjoy taking time to think about our childhood neighborhood and friends like Susanna Neale with whom I exchange holiday cards. I wonder about those with whom our family has lost touch and think about one of our across the street cousins who died not long ago. Our family reconnected with the Carlsons in the 1960's when both families lived in the Chicago suburbs. The Madisons introduced us to their Washington state college friends the Stotts, who became lifelong friends when we moved from Bellevue to Connecticut where they had also relocated. Meandering thoughts...all prompted by a recipe card for the rice I'll make this afternoon.
