Friday, August 28, 2009

In a Child's Eyes

We lived in the country in my growing up years so my memories are rather strange to most.  We did not often see other people but occasionally we had visitors.  One couple that came were rather memorable to me because they were a very quiet pair but sat in our kitchen for tea whenever they came.  I should say, the lady sat and the man stood.  I am hoping that nobody will take offense at this next bit as it is not meant to be derogatory to anyone either fat or thin.  The lady was very large in stature and the man was as thin as could be.  They were then referred to by myself and my siblings as the fat lady and the skinny man.  To this day whenever I mention the fat lady and the skinny man my brothers and sister know exactly who I am speaking about and none of us remember their individual names (if we ever knew them to start with).  

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

"Close the door"!!!

As I mentioned earlier - my Mom had a small bakeshop in her kitchen.  One summer I was available to give her a hand.  My job was to make the lemon pies, cakes and donuts.  The donuts and cakes were a new introduction that summer so of course had to have many testings done to make sure we had the right combination of ingredients to make the best.   The neighbourhood kids were excellent ginea pigs and I am sure they managed to gain a little weight despite having to bike over to do the testing.   She also had a flock of chickens and some ducks as well as dogs that were not averse to eating what was left over (which wasn't that often).  We also had to make sure the door stayed closed unless someone was coming in or going out so there was a constant cry "close the door"!!!  That was to keep the flies outside as we had baked goods setting out with no covers on them until they cooled.  That was a story in itself.   I remember one day Mom had accidently overcooked a pan of chelsea buns and the black smoke was just rolling out of the oven.   I told her that flies or no flies I was going to open the door to let the smoke out and I threw the door open. Surprise!!  there was a customer standing there just ready to come in.   Embarassing yes, but thankfully they just laughed and came in anyway. 

Monday, August 17, 2009

Another time I remember well was on a stormy April night, March 9, 1950. Now I am dating myself but the reason I remember it was because that was the night my brother was born. We still lived a long way from know civilization but the storm was so bad they could not get out anyway and my brother was born at home. My Dad was the midwife (for want of a better word). He waded through a flood to get some help but the lady had pneumonia and did not want to take the chance of giving anything to either my Mom or the baby so Dad was it. After the birth he put the baby in a basket and set him on the reservoir of the woodstove to keep him warm and brought me out in the middle of the night to see him. Neither my Dad or my brother are with us today but the memory will be with me forever.

Friday, August 14, 2009

One of my earliest memories in Mom's kitchen was having some people come to visit just after my sister was born. There was a girl maybe 9 or 10 that came with them. They brought me my first toys, 2 teddy bears. One was black and white and one was brown with homemade overalls. I don't know why I remember that time other than the fact that we rarely had visitors and I never had anyone to play with so that was a huge event in my life. I expect you can tell by this story, we lived a long way from civilization. I also remember that we had 'tea' and homemade cookies, which was also a fabulous treat. I have tea in quotes because I am also very sure that my mother would never have allowed me to have tea at 15 months of age. It was probably just water with a little powdered milk in it. I do remember the cookies because they were soft oatmeal and they are still my favorite kind today.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

I have such wonderful memories of events that happened in Mom's Kitchen throughout my lifetime. The kitchen was the hub of our home because that was where company came, culinary attempts and successes took place, homework was done, all the facts of life learned as well as lots of laughter and love.

My Mom had a small bakeshop that was operated during the summer months and some of the things she sold were Bread, Chelsea Buns (Sticky Buns to some), Butter tarts, Muffins, Pies, Cakes and Donuts. My new website Rosas Bakeware . com will be online soon and I will occasionally have a recipe there that we developed for that bakeshop. You will also be able to buy some of the tools of the trade that we used during that fun and cherished time.

I hope you will share some of your stories of your Mom's kitchen with us and make your kitchen the hub of your home.

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