Sometimes healthy is going with the flow

Anthony Bourdain came to town a few weeks back. He was funny, coarse, irreverent and pretty darn interesting. If you've seen his No Reservations show on the Travel Channel, you know that healthy eating is not exactly his focus. One thing he said, however, really struck home.

Bourdain was talking about how his mother-in-law often apologized for the simple, unadorned meals she served to the noted chef. He said that such meals sometimes rival anything he eats, because they were authentic and came from the heart. I believed him. 'Tony' went on to talk about the importance of food connecting people. His advice when grandma serves a dried out turkey or mashed potatoes whipped into a starchy paste: Smile, savor the people you are with and ask for seconds.

I was thinking about that recently when taking my mom to lunch. At 89 she clearly prefers cheeseburgers over much other food. (Although, she feigns to eat them rarely.) I asked her what she wanted for lunch--Asian or Mexican. Her response was one I should have anticipated:

"Where do we get those sliders I like?

Since she wants them so often, 'where' is actually one of three places. So, off we went. At her age, within reason, I guess she should be able to heavy up on the cheeseburgers. I snapped the picture shown here and sent it to my kids. Grandma's penchant for burgers in her later years has become something of a family joke. It's also the stuff of a food memory that all of us will have for the rest of our lives.