It's been a couple of weeks since I have written on my blog but not for lack of wanting to, just waiting for the right subject to consider. I have been thinking about writing about the people who have had signs from Mom, or writing about Stephen Hawkings (I don't know how to spell his name), but you know, the brilliant physicist who now believes that time travel is possible. Two very powerful topics and I can't wait to delve into them. However, those will have to wait because I think I need to write about Mom's holiday baking; a very powerful consideration in the Hurlburt household.
So the holidays are coming nearer and Mom loved the holidays. She started right before Halloween and went to after January (with all those after-holiday sales). She would start her buying for her children, their significant others, her 16 grandchildren and her 9 great grandchildren. She would begin writing her lists of what to give whom, and then she would start her list of what to make for each holiday. She began with Halloween and her popcorn balls. I decided that I would try to give making them a whirl this year in her honor and in her spirit. I just hope that they turn out HALF as good as she used to make them.
Yesterday, it was my shift with Dad. So I looked around in her kitchen for her cookbook that housed her specialty items where she kept all of her best (and I mean best) holiday treats. I found it! Her cookbook was actually a photo album which she converted years and years ago into her personal cookbook. This cookbook had handwritten recipes, cutout-of-magazine recipes, recipes that were typed up, and recipes that had pictures of some of these items. It was a happy-sad find for me.
Happy-sad is a term that my family, Russ, Patience and I, used after Patience came into our life. It is one of those moments that you try to explain to your child, in simplistic terms, why you are crying at something that is good and beautiful. It refers to things that you really can't describe as a sad event or a happy event, but an event that makes you smile with good thoughts but with tears that make you sad, and it can make you laugh through the tears. So finding Mom's special cookbook was a happy-sad moment for me.
I sat at the table and cried because I found all these great recipes for goodies that Mom would have started cooking for the holidays. I cried because I know how much I am going to miss that ritual that she had. I sat there and cried because I really miss her so badly. One of the hardest moments of looking through the cookbook was a recipe for molasses cookies, and above the typed recipe text she had hand-written, "very good", next to it (So you have to know that if Mom wrote that in there, it MUST be good). That was very sad for me. I could just picture her doing this, after making the cookies and sampling them, writing those words down. I could just picture her there. My heart broke again.
I also found some of her recipes for pickles and relishes. Again, all of these were typed, and when I say typed, I should clarify, they were typed from a typewriter, not a computer. That is how good they are, that she kept them and used them year after year.
Well, I found the popcorn ball one and it had just four ingredients. Popcorn, molasses, sugar, and "oleo". I don't know if too many people call it oleo anymore; or just margarine today, but that's how long this recipe has been there. I am going to make her popcorn balls and save some for my brother and sisters. And I hope that we get some trick-or-treaters tonight. Dad would love that. He would get such a kick out of seeing all of these little costumed-kids.
Here is another lesson that I have learned (thank you Mom, you keep teaching me and I am so appreciative). Please make sure that you think of your elderly parents and friends and keep them in your mind every day. It can be a terribly lonely existence if they are left to themselves. Take the time to visit them often and make them a part of your daily ritual; either with a call or a short visit. Doing things like this MAKE us all better people. Compassion is such an important part of life and it is one that will come back to you many times over.
Today I will go over to Mom and Dad's house and I will be proud of what I am about to undertake. I am going to give it my best shot; try to put my feet in some very big shoes. And I will wait with my Dad in hopes that little kids stop by to give him a chuckle. And to test my first shot at seeing how far the apple fell from the tree. I love you Mom! And I am so proud to say that I am your daughter. It makes me happy-sad...
No comments:
Post a Comment