Aunt Bonnie's Soul Food

I've mentioned my Aunt Bonnie in previous posts but on this trip I was blessed to get a tasty reminder of her serious soul food. Aunt Bonnie is a consummate cook and her homemade noodles are well-known in our hometown and legendary in our family. Bonnie's noodles were the centerpiece of every family get-together. I, personally, made a beeline for those bad boys every time.

I'd seen Bonnie and Larry on this trip when I visited my folks for the first time. I'd told her previously of my dream of creating a family cookbook, about the blog and strongly hinted my desire to have a few of her recipes. A couple of days later, Bonnie called me and said she had something for me to pick up. Thinking it was something to take to my parents, I was surprised to discover she'd made me those magic noodles along with a homemade chicken casserole. That was enough...but then I was stunned to discover she was giving me the holy grail: her recipes.

I then tearfully realized that she'd handwritten out every recipe. I had told Bonnie that I would photocopy any recipes but no.... Wheelchair-bound and on oxygen, she searched through a large stack of collected recipes and hand-wrote nineteen of her best recipes for me. That's my Aunt Bonnie...going above and beyond and then signing her recipes, adding, "You know, the crazy one."

Needless to say, I will treasure these recipes and her efforts for life. I thanked her profusely and left with my recipes and food. I eventually shared the food but first I took them back to the house to have a few minutes alone with them. One bite of those noodles....those fluffy, delicious pillows she calls noodles and I was flung back to my childhood. These are the ultimate comfort food...like a security blanket you can eat.

Bonnie, of course, is humble about her culinary gifts but I'm not kidding when I say that despite having the recipe for these noodles, I don't ever plan on duplicating them. Sure, I'll try making them, but I've always believed that Aunt Bonnie weaves a little love into them...they're that special.

I'm gonna hold the noodle recipe close for a bit, at least until I try making them. I will share a recipe at the end of this post for another one of Bonnie's specialties...her egg salad. Attempting these recipes will hopefully bring me a facsimile of her amazing cooking. I'm just going to imagine Bonnie's classic, infectious laugh while I'm doing it.

God bless ya, Aunt Bonnie.

Bonnie Steele's Egg Salad

Ingredients

4 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1/2 cup Hellman's mayo
1/2 cup chopped ham
2 tablespoons green onions, chopped fine
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
dash of pepper

In small bowl, combine chopped eggs, mayo, ham, chopped green onions, mustard and pepper. Cover and chill. Makes 2 cups