Christmas Goodies

I just finished the seventh Christmas ornament. I feel good about that. Usually once I get to the halfway point, I choose a couple that have less detail and go faster, just to help me “over the hump”. But with five left to do, it shouldn't take much longer.

Hubby asked me how long I've been making ornaments for the family. I can't really remember when I started......I laughingly told him that I know I started doing this before there were 12 people in the family! My kids could probably tell me how long I've been making them Christmas ornaments – based on the number they have on their trees. I don't know why I didn't make ornaments for myself, to help me keep track.

When I was little, the grandmother in Independence often gave my cousins and me Christmas ornaments, with money attached. She would usually come on the train for Christmas, and it was easy to transport. I still have some of those ornaments and put them on my tree every year. I hope my grandkids will still have and use their ornaments when they're my age.

When I was really small, this grandmother would bake special things when she came for Christmas. I have very vague memories of watching her, stealing samples of butter and other goodies. I know she brought her own ingredients, but I don't know if she brought them on the train with her, or if my dad's youngest brother would drive her down. She made a yeast coffeecake filled with cinnamon, sugar and nuts. It was really good.

But even better was her applesauce cake. I've never seen another one like it. It made a large cake, baked in an angel food cake pan. It was very dense, spicy and flavorful, full of nuts and dates. It would feed people for a long time, because it was so dense and filling. We all loved it.

Grandma would also make candy for Christmas. Her specialty seemed to be divinity. She made really good divinity, and she would make several different flavors. She probably made other things, but at my age at the time it was the sweets that held my attention.

Grandma wasn't really what you would call a loving grandma, which makes those early memories more precious. She was, simply put, pretty self centered. She seemed to think we would all just naturally be fond of her because she was our grandmother. She and my grandfather had divorced when Dad and his brothers were very young. Grandpa always got along with her just to keep peace – she thought they were good friends. Grandpa would always come stay at our house when Grandma was down, mostly to be a buffer for Dad. Grandma wasn't always logical with what came out of her mouth!

She was, though, a pretty good cook. There are some specific things I remember her making besides the Christmas goodies. One thing that I loved was what she called Green Tomato Ketchup – other people called it Chow Chow. It was green tomatoes, onions, green peppers, hot peppers, all kinds of spices, salt and vinegar.

Mom ended up with Grandma's recipe box and books. I made sure that I got the recipes for the Green Tomato Ketchup, the Cinnamon Coffee Cake, and the Applesauce Cake. I was duly warned, though, that Grandma was a “let's add a little of this” cook! She'd start with a recipe, then add a little dab of this, a little dab of that, and it would turn out great.

I've tried a couple of her recipes over the years. Even though the applesauce cake has an ingredient list a mile long, I followed the recipe and it tasted like Grandma's. One year when I had a big garden I tried the Chow Chow, and it tasted like I remembered. Even though we were never best pals, it's nice to have some good memories.