Monday, September 27, 2010

remember...


A year already...

Tomorrow will mark the first year without my Nanny. I really miss her, everything happened so fast in those few days. So much emotion packed into a few short, yet long days, and then we had to say goodbye. My Nanny left us September 28th, 2010...it feels like just yesterday. We all miss her so much that it feels like a bit of the family is missing. Some days it feels like I have misplaced something and just cant put my finger on what or where that thing is.

Over the next day and a half I will remember...I will remember the light that she brought with her as she touched everyone she knew in her own special way. I will remember popping in for tea after work for a quick visit, and always having a new recipe to try out...always something sweet. I will remember, "oh, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph" being exclaimed every time she was startled or a joke was made, or someone was just pulling her leg. I remember...her, and the kindness in her heart, thinking of others before herself, the long greeting card mailing list. No matter where you were, you always got a card for your birthday and anniversary. How she was ever able to find an address in her tiny little book I have no idea, but she always knew where to look. Curlers, bobby pins, homemade bread...Nanny buns! Leaving for church two hours before it started, prayers, and always making the sign of the cross when we drove by a church or graveyard.

She was the type of person that was happy with anything...our joke was always that if you gave her a dirty tissue as a gift, she would think that it was the best she ever got. I am hard pressed to sum up who she was and what she meant to so many, all I know is that there are a lot of people that miss her and remember...

I will leave this post with one of her recipes, one that is easy and tasty...and for a bit more maudlin...one that just doesn't taste the same without her hands making them. But...I will bake and remake and try all of her recipes, over and over again so that someday they may just taste a little as they did when she would mix and measure and bake and love.

Currant Butter Tarts

1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup currants

Beat butter - add sugar, egg, vanilla, milk and currants.
Fill tart shells 3/4 full.
Bake 12-15 minutes (at the temperature it says on the tart shells your using)

(as with all her recipes there are little notes scribbled on the cards...this one had one as well)

*I usually add a few more currants to the bottom of the tart shells before I add filling.






Make sure that you tell the people that you love, as often as you can, that you love them, and that you are happy that you have them, that you appreciate them, care about them,and are thankful that you know them.

...and remember, just remember.

1 comment:

  1. Grandmothers are a special joy unto themselves. How lovely for you that you have so many special memories.

    I think I'll make these tarts in honour of grandmothers every where, including yours.

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