Two weeks ago Sunday, my Mom and her three sisters and most of their children gathered for the first large family party we’ve held in a while. The occasion was a visit from my Aunt Sallie and Uncle Jim who live in Michigan.(Hi there -it was great to see you- glad you made the trip!) I had fun seeing younger cousins who are suddenly grown up and who (WOW!) now have children of their own.
My Mom and her siblings have all become grandparents and even great-grandparents now. It’s funny how families ebb and flow- sometimes towards and sometimes away from each other. With my own grandparents’ death their children moved apart and reformed into smaller family units with each child as the new head. I’m sure this also happened with my grandparents and their siblings when their own parents passed on. The family gatherings around my Gran and Gramps’ table for Thanksgiving and Christmas meals ended and new traditions were formed in smaller circles.
If you sense I have a certain wistfulness about this all- I admit it is true. I miss our family sitting around the yellow Formica and chrome kitchen table or the long (with leaves added) wooden dining table discussing life and savoring my Gran’s good cooking. I miss Gramps cracking a joke with razor sharp wit from his chair in the corner of the living room while I watched Gran cooking in the kitchen. I miss them singing duets together and the whole family gathering around the piano to sing after dinner and dishes were finished. I miss tagging along after Gramps while he did the chores, delivering milk to the creamery and getting up early to watch him eat his breakfast with fascination -waiting for painted scene at the bottom of his oatmeal porridge bowl to appear. I think of hard candy in glass jars (no one ever ate any) my Gran’s fruitcake (they were actually heavenly) at Christmas and endless games of four handed Canasta-laughing so hard that I even hyperventilated once. I feel the loss of the family centered around my Grandparents still -even though they both passed on over 20 years ago and in the same year as my Grandma on my Dad’s side.
Gramps in the Army WWII
Gran at 13 years old
I knew only two of my great grandparents, both on my Mom’s side -my Great-Grandpa George was around well into my adulthood but I only remember visiting my Great-Grandma Olive a few times shortly before she died when I was five. At the party my Mom gave me a CD with pictures of my ancestors clear back to six generations from me. I think it’s amazing to see the faces on my family tree.
A portrait of Great Grandma Olive
My Gran’s parents- Eudora and George
There was also a family reunion “another branch up on the family tree” on my Gramps’ side being held about four hours drive to the South of here the following Saturday- unfortunately I couldn’t make it because we were hosting our neighborhood block party that same day. The family reunion marked the birth-date of my Gramps’ mom- my Great-Grandmother Olive (see her picture above) I’m very sorry I couldn’t make the trip 🙁
For the family party we could attend, I volunteered to make the dessert. … And I can never make just one. I blame this tendency on my maternal genes -so in some ways the four desserts I made are a just a celebration of being fledged from this family 🙂 I made Pecan Pie Bars, Ukrainian Cherry Bars, a fudgy Texas sheet cake, and Cinnamon Bars. Since I lost the disk from my camera with the pictures – I’ll have to recreate them here and there.
The first recipe I’ve made again is the Pecan Pie Bars. My nephew, Tyler, asked me to post the recipe (and if- by chance- I had brought any more) when I saw him a couple of days ago so they must have been a hit. I made a new batch last night so I’ll send some his way and here’s the recipe:
Pecan Pie Bars
- 2 cups AP flour
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup chilled butter, cut into small pieces
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a cake pan (13x9x2) with a sheet of parchment paper and grease the paper and the sides with a little butter.Place the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor, pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter pieces and pulse until it starts to stick together in small clumps. Quickly press the mixture into the pan evenly and tamp down with the back of a measuring cup or a spatula. Bake for twenty minute. While the crust is baking make the topping:
- 2 cups of chopped pecans
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2 Tablespoons heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan melt the butter over medium low heat. Add the Brown sugar, honey and cream and stir in well. Bring to a simmer and simmer for a minute and then mix in the vanilla and the nuts. Pour over hot crust and return to oven for 20 more minutes. Cool completely, remove from pan and parchment and cut into serving pieces.
Wishing you all many happy moments to remember!
xoxo
Those pecan pie bars look good!
Zita- Thanks and thanks for stopping by 🙂
Marie- I hope you have a party to make these for soon. I love nuts in cookies- it would be hard to give up. Come on over for nutty cookies anytime 🙂
Bakings Soda- Oh that’s so great I am really happy to help 🙂
Rita- hope you do try and let me know how you like them 🙂
Dhanngit- Thank you – I should have sent you some for your party. I’ll make another dish t submit xo 🙂
April- Thank you! I would love to see your son make these! I think I am going to have to teach my nephew -he’s gone crazy for them. 🙂
Deborah- Thanks I hope you do try. Yes I feel really luck to have the photos- funny I’ve never seen most of them before. 🙂
I love family memories like that. And how fun to have all of those pictures! The pecan pie bars sound amazing – this is one I’d love to try!
Thanks for sharing you family with me. It sounds like you had a great time with your family! My son wanted to make nut pie, this is what he calls pecan pie for this weeks baking, but I think I will show him this recipe for him to try. These bars look wonderful!
im glad you had a great time with your family!! i love staring at old family photos too!! gives me lots of good souvenirs!! this pecan bars makes me drool
the bars look absolutely gorgeous! the recipe sounds doable for me…i’ll have to give this a try soon 🙂
I think you’ve just posted a rescue for a long lost recipe Gaby! It’s bookmarked!
Lovely photo’s, a real treasure.
Sounds like you had a wonderful time with your family, and all your old family photo’s are so precious aren’t they? I’d have to hold myself back from eating all your pecan bars, as I love nuts in all cookies, and my hubby is the opposite so I don’t normally put nuts in things I make. I will keep this in mind for my next party when I have some nut lovers like me to enjoy them!
Saw it the bars on RM, looks super crunchy, tum… love old potraits 🙂