Wow, no wonder you were so close (emotionally) to your grandparents, since you lived next door. I would have loved to live next door to my dad's parents (my mom's mom was a lot like her, so distance can be good.)

Your entry made me hungry, seriously! Somehow you mentioned most of my favorite dishes, even cream puffs which was unexpected (good ones are kind of hard to find in stores sometimes.)

One food I really loved that my mom made in Africa was chocolate banana cream pie. She never made it again once we returned to the states for some reason, but man, it was good :)

I had to laugh at your taco salad story. It was one of the main "meals when we had company" as a child because it's easy to make a lot of. I liked making it, but once my daughters became vegan and vegetarian, it's not something we eat at home often. Have you tried Little Rosie's taco salad?

My favorite part of your entry was the sweet story about your dad and the chicken. He loved you so much :)