The song “My Favourite Things” from the movie “The Sound of Music” has echoed around the rooms of my home for many, many years. It was only recently that I thought about what my favourite things were, but let’s go back to the beginning.
Recently I had the opportunity of watching the DVD of the movie “The Sound of Music” with my mother. The first time we saw this movie was in Melbourne on a trip up to the Sunshine Coast, Queensland in the early 1970’s. We only just had enough money to get in, but loved it. It became one of my favourite things.
We even ended up the record and I remember playing that record over and over – doing another one of my favourite things – singing! Yes, I love singing. My mother’s family all had good voices. They had a family choir, and several of them teamed up together entering into local talent competitions. Over the years Mum and I have made many nonprofessional recordings of singing, both separately and together. Sometimes it was with music, but more often than not is was acapella. Yes, singing is one of my favourite things.
Why was I thinking about this? Oh! Yes, that is right. I was looking at a recipe for mango jam as I had found some mangoes at the local markets and they were ripening and I wanted to make some jam in a couple of days. All of a sudden the words, “With jam, with jam and bread,” popped into my head. These words are, of course part, of the song “Do Re Me” from the Sound of Music.
It never ceases to amaze me how something as simple as looking at a recipe can bring back all of the above memories. How wonderful it is when these memories are nice ones, but how terribly sad when they are not. No matter which they are, we should acknowledge them and then let them go. We can’t change our memories, nor can we live in the past. We only have the present.
Why not do a little exercise right now? Stop and think about your favourite things. What memories do they bring up? Are they happy ones or sad ones? Take time to just acknowledge these memories as being part of what made you who you are today.
I love cooking jams. Years ago no Mum and her sister were visiting my home. My aunty asked if I had some jam to put on the bread. I asked her if she had a favourite type of jam. She said that she liked a dozen different jams. So I went through my refrigerator and cupboard where I kept my preserves (right now I am laughing) and found her a dozen different jams! We all laughed and laughed.
I also really like making preserves so that I always have plenty of food for a rainy day. While I was still married, my husband went through our cupboards of preserves taking photos. He then uploaded them onto a web page proudly announcing that this was his collection of the preserves he had made. This is a painful memory for me as he had not make any of them, I had done all the work.
Two similar favourite things that I like doing, as both involve cooking, yet two very different memories come to mind when I think of them. And, for the record, I still like making jam and preserves as cooking is one of my favourite things.
Until next time – remember, safety first!