Holiday memories... Fruitcake recipe, my teddy bear and cookies..... lots of cookies.
Holidays were always special when I was growing up. I was the oldest of three girls. My father was attending college and working full time until I was 8 years old. Each of us got an outfit of new clothing and a toy. Grandparents's gifts would include handmade pajamas or bathrobes, or handmade toys.
One year, my grandmother gave me a purse, just like hers. She filled it with chapstick, a small change purse, mints, sweet and low, and candy cigarettes. --all those treasures I'd find in her purse. Perhaps she was trying to keep me out of hers.
When Dad was young, he spent his Christmas money buying his mother a dozen blown glass Christmas balls. There was no money for wasteful things like wrapping paper, so he wrapped the box in the Sunday comics. Almost sixty years later the last of those balls broke. They had been carefully wrapped and protected, stored away from the other decorations, so nothing would fall on them.
Every year, at least one gift under the tree would be wrapped in colorful comics. Some years, the comics would be the favorites of the person getting the gift. One year, Mom was very efficient, and had cleaned and thrown away all the Sunday papers while preparing for holiday company. My sister grabbed the daily comics and a few crayons and made sure we kept the traditions going.
Another tradition was the fruitcakes. Generally they'd be baked the Friday after Thanksgiving, then soaked in brandy (?) until they were given to friends and family in December. The fruitcake recipe was carefully copied down from new bride to new bride. I knew my Aunt Ida from Florida had something to do with it. Years later I learned that the recipe was famous... and had won the best fruitcake recipe in 1950. So Aunt Ida passed it on to us up north. It wasn't just special to my family but to a lot of families.
http://www.tbo.com/lifestyles/flavor/2011/nov/29/recipes-lost-and-found-mrs-harveys-fruitcake-ar-327876/
My father, who was NOT a cook, found a cheating recipe that was just as good, but much easier (no merangue and folding and starting with a cold oven... This is amazingly easy and tastes the same. Since I don't have the crew that Grandma and Mom had for cracking nuts, dredging candied fruits, etc. so I cheat now.
http://www.cooks.com/recipe/wx6rj3oj/holiday-fruit-cake-with-mincemeat.html
When I close my eyes I can smell my mother's Spritz cookies, and the fun shapes. We used to guess what each press plate would make. (The camel always stumped me.) Cooking was a group effort. Although I'm not sure how helpful the three of us girls were when we were under 7 years old.
I've still got a few presents from those years. My teddy bear has been with me since 1967. There's a small Gideons New Testement I got the same year. We were poor enough that Grandma was always looking for little significant gifts that were free or inexpensive.
One year, my grandmother gave me a purse, just like hers. She filled it with chapstick, a small change purse, mints, sweet and low, and candy cigarettes. --all those treasures I'd find in her purse. Perhaps she was trying to keep me out of hers.
When Dad was young, he spent his Christmas money buying his mother a dozen blown glass Christmas balls. There was no money for wasteful things like wrapping paper, so he wrapped the box in the Sunday comics. Almost sixty years later the last of those balls broke. They had been carefully wrapped and protected, stored away from the other decorations, so nothing would fall on them.
Every year, at least one gift under the tree would be wrapped in colorful comics. Some years, the comics would be the favorites of the person getting the gift. One year, Mom was very efficient, and had cleaned and thrown away all the Sunday papers while preparing for holiday company. My sister grabbed the daily comics and a few crayons and made sure we kept the traditions going.
Another tradition was the fruitcakes. Generally they'd be baked the Friday after Thanksgiving, then soaked in brandy (?) until they were given to friends and family in December. The fruitcake recipe was carefully copied down from new bride to new bride. I knew my Aunt Ida from Florida had something to do with it. Years later I learned that the recipe was famous... and had won the best fruitcake recipe in 1950. So Aunt Ida passed it on to us up north. It wasn't just special to my family but to a lot of families.
http://www.tbo.com/lifestyles/flavor/2011/nov/29/recipes-lost-and-found-mrs-harveys-fruitcake-ar-327876/
My father, who was NOT a cook, found a cheating recipe that was just as good, but much easier (no merangue and folding and starting with a cold oven... This is amazingly easy and tastes the same. Since I don't have the crew that Grandma and Mom had for cracking nuts, dredging candied fruits, etc. so I cheat now.
http://www.cooks.com/recipe/wx6rj3oj/holiday-fruit-cake-with-mincemeat.html
When I close my eyes I can smell my mother's Spritz cookies, and the fun shapes. We used to guess what each press plate would make. (The camel always stumped me.) Cooking was a group effort. Although I'm not sure how helpful the three of us girls were when we were under 7 years old.
I've still got a few presents from those years. My teddy bear has been with me since 1967. There's a small Gideons New Testement I got the same year. We were poor enough that Grandma was always looking for little significant gifts that were free or inexpensive.
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