Note: this dialogue is representative of many that occured while Curtis and I lived with Mommy and Daddy, from 1996-1998. It is a good example of Mommy in the kitchen.

Angela (carrying a plastic grocery bag to her mother): It’s like a grab bag down in that freezer.

Mother: Oh! Is that bag full of neckbones?

No, but I found this bag that had chocolate chips in it so I brought it up. Now, there’s these two big packages of pork neckbones,

These are really old. . .
And here’s that other beef neckbone . . .
About the same age as these.
Really? I thought it was the one we didn’t use last time. . .
. . . September 1995!
Dang! I’ll look up here, it’s got to be in there somewhere.
Angela goes and digs in the upstairs freezer
Here it is! No, never mind. . .
Yes, that’s it, give me those rib tips
You want ribs? That’s the thing I was talking about never mind.
Yes, those will do just fine. Ma sits at the kitchen table and looks at the meat.
Oh dear, these have been in long enough to have that terrible freezer smell. . . these smell just right. I’ll have to cook these in one pot and the rancid meat in another pot.
Rancid?
I can cook the meat til it thaws, and then pull off the fat. That’s what traps the rancid smell.
Rancid smell? Is there anyway we can avoid the rancid smell?
Well, I’m going to do everything I can to avoid it, honey. . . It’s a good thing we’re not religious. . .
Why do you say that, because you’re mixing beef and pork?
Yes.
But a rancid smell? That sounds so appetizing!
Ma starts getting pots and water together. She puts the fresher meat in a large pot, and the rancid meat in another pot. Then she smells the beef neckbone.
Oh, damn! This one has a rancid smell, too.
Well, you better put it in the rancid pot! We don’t want to mix the rancid meat with the non-rancid meat.
Ma laughs. Yani comes in the kitchen. Can I have some milk? Ooh! What’s that stinky smell?
That’s just the rancid meat Grammy’s cooking for dinner, sweetie. Angela pours the milk and racks her brain for what to prepare for everybody else.