Where It All Began - My Love of Baking
My love of baking began when I was very young. I remember spending many days, and weekends with my Nana Rosie (my maternal grandmother). She loved to cook and bake. She made sure to involve me in every meal or dessert. Shredding the white rose potatoes for hash browns for breakfast, or peeling or dicing apples for her Apple Cake.
I looked forward to diving into what we made. But it wasn't just dishing it out onto a plate directly from the stove or out of the oven. It was a process. Set the table properly, placemat and napkin, along with silverware. Don't forget the glasses of milk. Bring the Apple Cake to the table on a cake plate.
Then we would sit down properly, she would slice us a piece of cake and we would taste the cake together. The first bite should always be eaten slowly to savor all the flavors. Once we had that first bite, that's when the conversations would happen.
The many memories that were created over good food have never left me. Although Nana Rosie passed over 35 years ago, the love and knowledge of the entire experience of food has not. Maybe she is the reason I love a fully dressed dining room table. I love pretty dishes to serve my food on, and the best times are around the table with those that I love the most.
I can say, many of my Nana's recipes are in my possession. Now, my Nana was not a woman of great means. She was a woman that used what she had, repurposing what she could, when she could. It never surprised me when she pulled out her recipes and they would be in plastic envelopes. When all her recipe "binders" were sent to me I was overjoyed. As I thumbed through each of her"binders" it was like nothing had changed.
As I stated before, it has been over 35 years since she has passed, I miss her every day. She has impacted my life in a positive way more than I would have ever imagined. Being a Nana” myself, I hope I do the same for my Littles. They all stared very young - my first set of Littles, we would bake or cook something together every time they came over. The Sugar Bean, well, we will talk about her in my next post.
It doesn't seem like it has been that long ago. Now, we have our youngest Littles that have just relocated back to Utah this past May. And we are loving having them so close to us now. Vegas trips are now just for dance competitions for Libby.
That's how it all began. Until next time,
Be sure and Live the Sweet Life!
- Christine