It's possible someone reading my blog may not know that im a Writer. I mean not published or anything, but it is by far my best and favorite form of expression. Recently while cleaning up my hard drive i ran across this jewel, it made me cry *lol* So i suppose it has some sappy, nostalgic, holidayish properties to it :) Hope you enjoy.
A Spoon and a cookbook
I was sitting in a metal folding chair, tugging at the new pink skirt and double checking that the practice wedding “do” wasn’t coming undone. My cousin on one side writing down what gifts and from whom as my sister (on the other side) was handing them to me. The next one was a garment box, pretty wrapping, but to tell the truth I’ll never remember what it was wrapped in. The gift itself, well, it transported me .. to another time, another place.
It took me back to small country kitchen with red brick linoleum on the floor, and handmade café curtains at the windows. Three anxious children stood on stools and chairs, around an old decrepit dishwasher, that had been dead for a while, but was kept there for the extra counter space in the form of a butcher block. Each child gripped a cookie cutter of their own choice. Waiting while mom expertly rolled out the sugar cookie dough to the exact thickness to make perfect cookies.
I don’t remember what we cut out, how they looked, how many we made, I do however remember the smell, a mixture of cookies, evergreen from the Christmas tree, and the spicy candles mom always had going in the winter. The taste of warn fluffy sugar cookies right out of the oven, and the feeling that holiday cookies meant Christmas must be close.
Christmas wasn’t the only time of year we made cookies, our house never lacked in the baked goods department, but it was the ONLY time of year we got to pull out “The Cookie Book” It was an old Betty Crocker cookbook full of holiday cookie recipes. Dated 1978, it had cute drawings that seemed so old to us, and my favorite part was on the ginger bread cookie recipe, they showed photos of an old Betsy McCall doll making the cookies herself! Mom would tell me about how she had a doll like that when she was my age, and then explain to me every time how they got pictures of her making cookies.
We got all our holiday cookies out of that book, Pinwheel cookies, sugar cookies (with sour cream) gingerbread cookies. It was as much a part of our Christmas as a tree taller than dad, or the hand knit stockings from our Grandmother, that had our names, and were much bigger then anybody else’s stockings!
This Gift I opened was so much more than just things being handed down to me, they were to be permanent reminders in my home of what my mother tried so hard for so many years to install in my mind. Sitting in the crock on top of my stove, I am brought back every day. To the lessons taught over bread dough, about being a wife and homemaker, traditions held in a cookbook, making sure that we set up memories and traditions of our own and making sure that everyone gets in on the Holiday fun. The reminder that Precious memories can be as simple as time spent with family. Mom always tried to show me how to make a house a home. How to make a welcoming place to come back to, and how to make sure your own family feels like this kitchen is the best, warmest and safest place anyone could ever find themselves.
I stared at the wooden spoon so old and notched and dark sitting there in the bridal tissue paper, and I saw Eric stirring the chips into his “famous” cookie dough. Tying a bundle of Lipton Tea bags onto it, and draping them into a pot of boiling water to steep for a gallon sized batch of REAL homemade sweet iced tea. I saw dad stirring chili, and mom mixing the biscuit dough. I picked up the cookbook and expected flour to fall out mixed with red and green sprinkles. I ran my hand over the grease spots from 20+ years of pawing over the recipes, and children pointing to pictures with doughy fingers.
Mom had written a message inside the cover.
“To my Sweet Sara on the Occasion of marriage to Michael, May many little ones enjoy this book.” Love Mom
Then, After I started to cry, I had to hold up the ratty spoon and faded cookbook for all to see, and explain to all in the room a summary of what I just explained to you.
S.E.D. Nov. 15 2004
A Spoon and a cookbook
I was sitting in a metal folding chair, tugging at the new pink skirt and double checking that the practice wedding “do” wasn’t coming undone. My cousin on one side writing down what gifts and from whom as my sister (on the other side) was handing them to me. The next one was a garment box, pretty wrapping, but to tell the truth I’ll never remember what it was wrapped in. The gift itself, well, it transported me .. to another time, another place.
It took me back to small country kitchen with red brick linoleum on the floor, and handmade café curtains at the windows. Three anxious children stood on stools and chairs, around an old decrepit dishwasher, that had been dead for a while, but was kept there for the extra counter space in the form of a butcher block. Each child gripped a cookie cutter of their own choice. Waiting while mom expertly rolled out the sugar cookie dough to the exact thickness to make perfect cookies.
I don’t remember what we cut out, how they looked, how many we made, I do however remember the smell, a mixture of cookies, evergreen from the Christmas tree, and the spicy candles mom always had going in the winter. The taste of warn fluffy sugar cookies right out of the oven, and the feeling that holiday cookies meant Christmas must be close.
Christmas wasn’t the only time of year we made cookies, our house never lacked in the baked goods department, but it was the ONLY time of year we got to pull out “The Cookie Book” It was an old Betty Crocker cookbook full of holiday cookie recipes. Dated 1978, it had cute drawings that seemed so old to us, and my favorite part was on the ginger bread cookie recipe, they showed photos of an old Betsy McCall doll making the cookies herself! Mom would tell me about how she had a doll like that when she was my age, and then explain to me every time how they got pictures of her making cookies.
We got all our holiday cookies out of that book, Pinwheel cookies, sugar cookies (with sour cream) gingerbread cookies. It was as much a part of our Christmas as a tree taller than dad, or the hand knit stockings from our Grandmother, that had our names, and were much bigger then anybody else’s stockings!
This Gift I opened was so much more than just things being handed down to me, they were to be permanent reminders in my home of what my mother tried so hard for so many years to install in my mind. Sitting in the crock on top of my stove, I am brought back every day. To the lessons taught over bread dough, about being a wife and homemaker, traditions held in a cookbook, making sure that we set up memories and traditions of our own and making sure that everyone gets in on the Holiday fun. The reminder that Precious memories can be as simple as time spent with family. Mom always tried to show me how to make a house a home. How to make a welcoming place to come back to, and how to make sure your own family feels like this kitchen is the best, warmest and safest place anyone could ever find themselves.
I stared at the wooden spoon so old and notched and dark sitting there in the bridal tissue paper, and I saw Eric stirring the chips into his “famous” cookie dough. Tying a bundle of Lipton Tea bags onto it, and draping them into a pot of boiling water to steep for a gallon sized batch of REAL homemade sweet iced tea. I saw dad stirring chili, and mom mixing the biscuit dough. I picked up the cookbook and expected flour to fall out mixed with red and green sprinkles. I ran my hand over the grease spots from 20+ years of pawing over the recipes, and children pointing to pictures with doughy fingers.
Mom had written a message inside the cover.
“To my Sweet Sara on the Occasion of marriage to Michael, May many little ones enjoy this book.” Love Mom
Then, After I started to cry, I had to hold up the ratty spoon and faded cookbook for all to see, and explain to all in the room a summary of what I just explained to you.
S.E.D. Nov. 15 2004
Oh gosh Sarai!! You got your mom with that one!! I need a copy of that please. :-)
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