This summer, we’re celebrating 50 years of marriage in the best way for us–a week on the coast with our family. Two married daughters, their spouses, and a teenage grand-girl. We leave tomorrow morning.
So this morning, before the house heated up (it’s heading to 100 today) I made a “Camping Cake” in Mom’s vintage aluminum cake pan with a sliding lid. That pan ensures the cake stays moist and unsquashed on a trip. It’s loaded with oats, cinnamon, nuts, and coconut so can also stand in for breakfast in a pinch. Just saying.
The “Quick Fudge Cookies” were renamed “Swimming Lesson Cookies” by my younger daughter who needed a little extra encouragement to get into the water.
Today’s bakes are in addition to the three (small) batches of cookies already in the deep freeze. I guess you can say that baking is my love language. It pleases me to take requests for favorites.
While Annie Cooper’s Recipe Scrapbook credits characters from my book, US, NOW AND THEN, they are all from my personal collection. And many came from my mother, Lorraine, who baked for my school cafeteria in Placentia, California in the 1950s and 1960s. Baking is one of the ways I like to remember her.
It seems I’m not alone. As shown in this video, Rosie Grant found fondly remembered family recipes on gravestones! And then she made them, connecting herself with strangers’ mothers, grandmothers, and aunties across time and space.
Our loved ones may be gone, nevertheless, we can still conjure up their presence anytime we want. Their love gets passed along every time we follow their recipes. Every smell and taste brings them back. Sweet memories indeed.
I encourage you to try these recipes or bake up a few of your own favorite memories.
Lorie Smith Schaefer 