Wow, I haven't blogged in a minute. So, to avoid being a complete slacker, I'll say something.

My Mama's Banana Pudding was off the chain tonight! Yes, I'm doing better this month with watching my eating habits. I even kept the neckbones, green beans, crowder peas, and two bites of homemade cornbread (not that Jiffy cake stuff) to a minimum. But Banana Pudding??? Mama put it down on this Sunday.

Mama used to always put it down most days of the week. I still joke that her cooking is the reason that she had three fat kids. It's not completely her fault, but most of the women on my Mama's side can cook, especially on her mother's side. If I grew up in Macon, GA with those women, I probably would be too big to shop in regular stores. That's how good it is!

Mama and my older brother left the slow life in Macon for the speedier life in Atlanta. She brought her skills to the city and got my Daddy and brother nice and fat. She wasn't always superb because her first few attempts at biscuits always ended up on the wall unbroken. My brother was known to say, "You can use these to play baseball!" Well, she kept at it and gave us some of the best biscuits that Pillsbury can't imagine. Mama always had the neighbors kids clamoring for her biscuits, so she had to make about 30-40 at a time. She even made Ghetto-Aid with FOUR cups of sugar. She made German Chocolate Cake, Sweet Potato Pies, and Banana Pudding straight from scratch. Her Red Velvet Cake is infamous. You know the way some Red Velvet Cakes look more fuschia or pink? Mama's is usually blood red with real cream cheese icing with pecans to boot. Yes, Lawd, my Mama can throw down! I've always believed that most other Mamas were completely beneath my Mama because my Mama is the best cook...period.

Well, her kids grew up and eventually moved out. Her grandkids used to be there everyday after school, but their Mom gave up management in Corporate America to be a housewife (or Diane, Jr. as she calls herself). She had no one to cook for 4-6 days a week. Then, when she would cook, no one would eat. Me and my brother began to have the privelege of buying fast food 2, 3, and 4 times a week if we chose because we were making money that we could spend how we liked. Dad didn't have to worry about spending his hard-earned income at anyone's restaurant because it was usually just him and Mama. He barely took us to any restaurants when we were younger. I think my last Happy Meal was at 5 - not 9 or 10 like normal kids. So, with all of these new developments, why should she cook on a regular basis?

I could see her point, especially when I know I visited once every 1-2 weeks. But for me, things got out of hand when she went nearly one whole month without cooking Sunday dinner like she was outside of the South. Where's the big Sunday dinner? Can we even get the small Sunday dinner? Some Mrs. Winner's Chicken? Subway? If I was mad as a visitor, imagine the fury of my black Santa Claus father.

So, it's like a special occasion when Mama cooks these days. Mama done broke us off THREE Sundays in a row! Good times is an understatement. Makes me damn near want to cry. Dad isn't complaining as much, and they're even more playful. It's just like what I hear from older people and straight from the pulpit: You gotta keep doing what you were doing when you got your man/woman. Don't change it up and get lazy. My Mama isn't lazy, but I think she might have been going through more than she wanted to say if she stopped cooking. Now, she's back...for now. I hope she continues on because I love her cooking, and we love her for it. More than just the cooking, but y'all get the point. If you don't, then you're welcome to College Park to sip iced tea as the cholesterol courses through your body and the deliciousness warms your soul.