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Posted on 11/26/2005 7:32:00 AM PST by carlo3b
Christmas Memories, Cookies, Candies, and Desserts
For me, it was the official start of the Christmas season, seeing the matriarchs gather in coffee klatches and recipes exchanges. As a little tike, anything that signaled the approach of Christmas was enough to cause excitement around our home. Watching my great-grandmother summon the elderly women of our family and neighborhood, was a sure sign that big things were heating up in our little kitchen. These beautiful women were dignified and almost aristocratic in their black mourning dresses, with clouded stockings, and clumpy shoes. I can still recall the gentle scent of lavender and rose perfumes as they shuffled to their places around our modest kitchen table. Those mixtures of colognes and coffee were far from the only wonderful smells that began to fill our home and hearts at this glorious time of the year. Fabulous homemade Italian pastries were a right of passage for these gatherings. Baking for the clan was a near sacred honor that my great-grandmother cherished..
We were a typical nuclear family for those times. A working man, my great-uncle, a stay at home wife, my-great aunt, my retired great-grandmother, and great-grandfather, and of course yours truly. Our familial arrangement was not unique, most households had extended family members, and everyone had a place on the clan hierarchy. Women generally ruled the roost, and menfolk earned the bacon. Grandmothers, at least in my family, routinely prepared the meals. Wives raised the offspring and kept the house, meaning the housework and shopping, and those lucky enough to have grandpas, had the benefit of wisdom and history that could only come from invaluable, accumulated life experiences, and vivid recollections..
Our homes were mostly small walk-up apartments, located in the bowels of the inner city of Chicago. They were called, "cold water flats", meaning each apartment had to make their own hot water with a silver colored water heater tanks, located in a convenient corner of the kitchen. If you wanted hot water you had to turn it on and cautiously feel the sides of the tank to see how close it was becoming hot. It was surely crude, but efficient enough to accomplish the job so nobody complained. However, you had to be mindful, not to forget to turn the tank off when the task was complete, the explosive consequences were all too frightening and frequent..
If you were lucky, as we were, you had heat furnished by a landlord in the form of cast iron coiled radiators. The heat was generated by coal fired furnaces, located in dark damp cellars. These subterranean dungeons were also called "the basement", which also housed whatever passed for a clothes washers in those days. I mostly remember those radiators, because they clanged from expanding heat filled pipes on cold winter mornings as we waited for the heat to raise to a reasonable warmth to venture out from under our heavy blankets. The radiators were sparsely placed, usually in the busiest areas of the home. We often warmed and dried clothes on this solitary heat source on frigid winter mornings. More than once I left my chilled trousers on too long, and burned myself on an overheated zipper. Chicago winters were especially cold, and flimsy windows were typically drafty. What was a blessing in the stifling summer heat, a window or skylight, was truly a detriment on cold winter nights.
A single low wattage light bulb hung conspicuously over the center of the white porcelain topped kitchen table. The light cord had a protruding plug for connecting a clothes iron. The light had an on-off string which dangled down low enough so the shortest member of the family could reach it. Every home had an icebox, with a small refrigerated compartment, and a square slot that held a cube of solid ice. The ice block needed to be replenished at least once a week by a gentleman who was aptly named, "the iceman". He carried the heavy block of ice 3 flights of stairs from his waterlogged horse drawn wagon. The gas cooking stove was a 4 burner antique, with an unregulated double oven that could only be lit with a stick match. The kitchen sink was one compartment with a long drain board. It had a single cold water faucet and a sturdy garden hose that connected it to the hot water tank. All of this was crude and simple by today's standards, but it was all that was needed to prepare at least two meals a day, a hardy breakfast, and a scrumptious 4 course, made-from-scratch dinner.
The homemade meals, complete with fresh bread were prepared with meticulous care each and every day, rain or shine. Needless to say, from this dim, sparsely equipped kitchen that made cooking and baking for our large family gatherings all that more remarkable. I learned to cook standing on a kitchen chair at that humble stove, under the watchful eye of my loving great-grandmother. She stood under 5 feet, but she was a giant to all that knew her. I think of her every day when I shamefully complain as the time comes to prepare my family meals at my fully equipped gourmet kitchen..
Our bathroom was small and simple. It had a top tank, gravity flushing toilet that sported a pull chain with a ivory handle. The lavatory was a tiny cold water basin that had circular chips from some unknown historic calamity, and a claw footed bathtub that was enormous, with a rubber plug on a chain.. The hot water had to be bucketed in from the kitchen sink, which was unfortunately located at the far end of the adjoining room. The bucket brigade took 2 people, 3 loads each. There was a small gas heater that furnished plenty of heat on the floor, but the small whitewashed window above the tub had a constant whistling from frigid air that seemed to be unobstructed and unending. It made standing for towel drying an olympic speed event..
The apartment had 2 small bedrooms, each only large enough to hold a double bed, and squatty art deco styled dresser. Each dresser was equipped with a mirror and on it's polished top lay assorted decorative perfume bottles and each had a matching sterling silver brush set, which was dutifully arranged at all times. The front room of the home was in reality, our living room, although we hardly ever lived there. The long narrow room held a large sofa, which doubled as my bed, a matching side chair, a huge floor model radio, and a mufti-bulb lamp with a oversized shade with dangling decorative fringe. An imposing chandelier hung prominently in the center of the vaulted ceiling. The floors were all buffed wood, and covered with assorted throw rugs that forever gathered under foot traffic. Our kitchen floor was covered with a patterned linoleum that had long ago began to show a well worn path. The bathroom was a beautifully tiled mosaic, in alternating black and white octagon shapes. At strategic locations were yellowed photographs of unknown origins in various shaped ornate frames, and on every flat surface aside from the kitchen were dozens of tiny knickknacks, and candles..
We lived in 4 simple rooms, but I never thought of it in those terms. In my mind it was a mansion, filled with love and devotion to one another. We were near penniless but rich with respectability and honor. We had all that we needed and enough left over to share with others. Everyone I knew loved me, and I loved and respected each of them. The family expected the best from me and I did my best to fulfill my duty to my good name, in their well deserved honor..
Just recalling these golden, olden days is a treasure in itself, because it brings me back to an era that laid the foundation of my life and that of my own family. It reminds me of the importance we placed and the respect we had for the generational roots and traditions that were instilled at an early age. Those roots were planted deep and would ultimately shape my character. Cooking and baking wasn't just food in our home, it was our women's only gift to give. These recipe choosing assemblages were not called just to pick the heirloom cookies that were going to dominate their lives for the month leading up to Christmas. This was a time-honored task and was the solemn obligation our women placed in making their modest but treasured gifts so very special. Those dear aged women demonstrated their devotion to the family not by buying our presents, but by caring for us, the giving of themselves with their own loving hands..
The men of our family proudly gave up their youth, much too early in life and they did it voluntarily. They fought for their country on distant battlefields they couldn't even pronounce. They risked their lives to insure a freedom for a future they couldn't be sure they would live to enjoy. When they returned, they worked tirelessly to support a fine family of their own. These hardy men gave us an honorable name and a high bar in which to strive. They each raised respectable children that proved what they were made of. Our forefathers scratched an indelible place in our history and in our hearts. They earned our love, our gratitude, and our everlasting respect..
The stalwarts of our family, our beautiful women, have given us our sense of worth, our humanity, the true meaning of love for family. Their selfless sacrifice, placed a high value on sharing, fairness, and a soft simple abiding love. Their talent was devotion, their legacy was in the future of the family traditions passed on in perpetuity.. It is in their name I pass many of my family recipes on to you, for you to share with your family, and hopefully with others far and wide.. Enjoy.. Carlo
MERRY CHRISTMAS, AND GOD BLESS YOU,
GOD BLESS AMERICA.
Thank you so much for the ping, please keep me on your list, I love the recipes and yearly make the anise cookies, feel like I've died and gone to heaven!!
Prayers up for your surgery carlo. Many blessings to you!
My prayers are with you this evening, Carlo.
After tying a cord half way up the tree we fastened it to nails or hooks in the wall. Propping the tree up in the corner was the best way to keep it stable and prevent it from falling over.
The tree held its place of honor in the northeast corner of the living room. It took a lot of skill to get the tree straight enough and sturdy enough to be ready for trimming.
We could hardly wait for the frozen branches to warm up and become pliable enough to permit the stringing of the lights.
The old fashion lights were much different then the ones we have today. They were big and came in bright colors. If one bulb was loose or burned-out the lights would go out. Often as soon as the lights were strung, and it was time to decorate, a bulb would blow and all the bulbs would have to be tested one by one until you found the exact bulb that was burned out. This job of light stringing and bulb testing was reserved for Dad and the ritual had to be repeated several times throughout the Christmas season. We were content to let him handle the problems as long as we got the chance to hang (and sometimes break) a few ornaments.
The final decorating task was not the star on top (usually Dad took care of that too) but tinsel. Despite Mom's instructions of how to place on one strand of tinsel on at a time, we never seemed to get the knack for it or develop the patience to finish the project without tossing clumps of tinsel on the tree. The height of the my younger brothers and sisters usually meant that when we finished we had many little wads of tinsel around the bottom half of the tree
Mom carefully reserved some plastic ornaments and small metal Christs bells for the youngest and the shortest. While Bobby and Stella were pretty good at hanging on ornaments, David was good at taking them off.
Amen!
We're still praying for you Carlo!
Only 1 substitution in these recipes.
I use Splenda instead of granulated sugar.
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This time of year I love to make fruit salads.
I use fresh fruit, some frozen fruit, and rarely,
canned fruit. The key to a winter fruit salad
is to make it colorful and add just a sprinkling
of sugar on the layers of fruit. I put my fruit
salad in a champagne crystal punch bowl.
COLD FRUIT SALAD
4 large red Washington or Rome apples
4-6 Kiwi fruits sliced
4-6 Mandarin oranges
4 large Golden Delicious Apples
1 pound bag of mixed berries (dethawed)
(Blueberries; Blackberriers or Raspeberries, Strawberries)
4 Red or Yellow Pears
2 Large Mangoes or Papayas
Red or Green grapes
4 Bananas
Anything else that looks good.
Serve.
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HOT FRUIT SALAD #1
1 cup of water
2 tsps. of lite margarine or butter
4 large apples
4 large pears
1/4 cup of sugar
Cinnamon
Rub bowl or crock pot with a little
margarine or butter. Add water
Add chopped fruit cut in chunks.
Mix in Sugar.
Cut up margarine or butter on top.
Sprinkle cinnamon on top.
Cover.
Slow cook until done.
Serve.
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HOT FRUIT SALAD #2
1 CUP OF WATER
1 POUND BAG OF FROZEN BLACKBERRIES
1 POUND BAG OF FROZEN BLUEBERRIES
1 POUND BAG OF FRESH RAPSPBERRIES OR
STRAWBERRIES.
OPTIONAL - Add 1/2 pound of whole cranberries
for a zing.
1 to 1 and 1/2 cups of granulated sugar
2 tsps of margarine or butter
Rub bowl or crock pot with a little
margarine or butter. Add water
Add berries.
Mix in Sugar.
Cut up margarine or butter on top.
Sprinkle cinnamon on top.
Cover.
Slow cook until done.
Serve.
simply, but oh so good for those that love orange....
Orange Candy
2 cups Sugar
½ cup Karo Syrup (light)
½ cup milk (whole milk)
1 cup pecans or walnuts
1 grated rind of orange
Blend ingredients except nuts. Place over low heat and cook to softball stage. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 12 minutes. Add nuts. Beat until creamy. Drop on waxed paper. If cools to quickly place in pan of warm water.
(((Carlo)))
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With great joy.
Continued prayers, Carlo.
Healing prayers for our friend.
Thank you so much for the update on Carlo. We continue our Prayers from the far left coast...
Thanks for the report, christie!!!
Prayers for Carlo.
What a pleasure it is to pray for Carlo, who graces this site with his super, upbeat personality, happy spirit, yummy recipes, and wonderful reminders, and sharing, of the joys of family and holiday traditions. Thanks for the update, Christie.
So glad for the good news regarding your surgery, Carlo. May God bless you with complete, successful, and speedy recovery of good health. You are a blessing to all of us who enjoy reading your threads, even when I don't always post to the threads. :)
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