Warm and Tasty Memories

This is a scan of a very very old picture of my grandmother. (Born is 1885 and died in 1965)

I started thinking about her this morning after visiting Ree's blog.... you know... Pioneer Woman. She has posted today in her cooking page about making homemade donuts. She has wonderful pictures and a blow by blow account of how to make them. Recipe included, of course. You can go there in a bit and see what I mean.

The pictures of all those homemade donuts bought my Grandmother Clara Estelle instantly to my mind. She was a cook deluxe. Her parents both died when she was quite young, and she went to live with her grandmother... her Mother's mother... who was a seamstress. Clara learned to cook at an early age, but never learned to sew much. Clara took over the kitchen and became the great cook in the family.

I remember her visits when I was a kid. I'd go off to school in the morning and wonder what wonderful thing I'd find to eat when I walked back in the kitchen in the afternoon. I clearly remember the treat of finding roasting pans full of freshly made donuts and holes. What a treat! The smell and the taste of them still linger in the back of my mind. It was such a warm and tasty memory. My grandmother and those wonderful donuts made with love. On this cold cold winter morning, it warms my heart to think of it again.

I found this picture and turned it to black and white as some of the color was a bit aged now. This is I-Needa at her grandmother's house... my mom... I-Needa and Right Back call her Mimi. She was the cookie, pie, and cake baker. My kids laugh and sometimes make quite a point of the fact that I wasn't the one making cookies in their youth. I didn't need to... Mimi did it.

Mimi also took her responsibility of passing on a few cooking skills to I-Needa. I know there is a picture somewhere of I-Needa with a few smudges of flour on her face... and everywhere else. I'm going to have to dig for that one.



You know that old saying about the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. I-Needa is a little older here, but still at it in the cooking department. She is on the counter again as still isn't tall enough to reach the counter top. Besides, what good cook doesn't sit on the counter top to cook? Just kidding.

I-Needa has gotten Right Back to join her this time and he just needs to stick that finger into the bowl and have a little taste. I'll bet it's cookies.


Somewhere in I-Needa's mind, there must be a thought or two of her Mimi's kitchen smells and tastes. I think her grandmother passed down a few things to her.


Here she is again... in Mimi's kitchen. She is Miss Organization in the kitchen and is still happily doing her thing. Mimi is older now and needs a bit of help getting things done. Family get-togethers and lots of doings are a bit much for her. I-Needa is the just the gal for the job. She flies around the kitchen with ease. That's the same place that she use to sit on the counter.

Hummmmmm.... I think I'm going to mention home made donuts to her and see if she is up for the challenge.