The theme for the month of July is Identity. A part of my identity has been shaped by my childhood, so I plan to share some of my own childhood memories as I remembered and wrote them down in 2013. I used the alphabet to spark my memory, so travel with me through this alphabet of childhood memories from the 1940s and 1950s. Some letters reminded me of more than one thing, so you'll see two entries for some of the letters.
A is for Apple
Our family orchard had two apple trees, a Baldwin and Red Delicious. The Baldwin was an earlier apple and was good for cooking. My Mom would make apple pie from both kinds of apples, but the Delicious was not as soft when cooked. My Mom would make applesauce, usually from the Baldwins. She would core them, then without peeling them would use the Foley food mill.
But my favorite apple dish that my mother would make I called baked apples. When she wrote down the recipe for me she called it: Baked Apple Pudding. I especially liked it because she seemed to always make enough so there was some left for school lunch the next day. Here is her recipe:
Baked Apple Pudding
1/3 c. flour, 2/3 c. sugar, 1/3 c. butter, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Mix these ingredients to a crumb. Bake apple halves or quarters with crumb sprinkled on top in 375° oven till tender 1 - 1 1/2 hours. Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup water or orange juice depending on size of pan.
A is for Aunts
If you asked me to name my favorite aunt, I would say that I couldn't pick a favorite. I liked my Dad's sisters, Aunt Vida and Aunt Buena. Aunt Vida was the mother to my older cousins. She lived close to us until I was about 6 or 7 years old. Then they moved to Eugene and lived next door to my grandparents. She and her first husband got a divorce so I grew up remembering her second husband Fred. I have a good memory of going to her house for Christmas. Later she and Uncle Fred got a new split-level house and my grandmother, now widowed, moved in with them. Again we did have some Christmas times a her house. I best remember Aunt Buena when she lived in Florence with her second husband, Uncle Walt. At least one year we did go there for Christmas.
I also enjoyed my Mom's sisters, Aunt Lois, Aunt Erma, Aunt Violet and my uncle's wife, Aunt Ruth. Aunt Lois could be so funny. My Dad said that you had to be careful and not tell her a joke on Saturday night because she might laugh in church the next day. But I felt sorry for Aunt Lois because she was divorced and one year her ex-husband took my cousin Kay for the summer and didn't bring her back. I was some years before Lois was reunited with her daughter. Aunt Erma moved to Minnesota and sent letters including tracts about her religious beliefs. Aunt Violet was fun to be around. She and her first husband Art moved to Idaho to homestead for awhile I can remember after she had married Uncle Mel going to their home for Christmas. Aunt Ruth was a nurse and she and Uncle Jerry had four children.
I was fortunate to know some of my paternal grandmother's sisters, Aunt Julia and Aunt Lake, and some of her sisters-in-law, Aunt Ruby and Aunt Evelyn. Aunt Julia lived in Kansas, but did come to visit us in Oregon. Aunt Lake lived in Brownsville and we went to her house fairly often for family gatherings. Aunt Ruby was a cheerful person and Aunt Evelyn always looked dressed up.
I didn't really know my other grandmother's sister-in-law, Aunt Grace, but she did send out family chocolate covered cherries for Christmas almost every year.
A great-grand aunt that I met was Aunt Nellie, who was really my cousin, but she was married to my great-grandfather's brother. Aunt Nellie lived in Nebraska and came to visit in Oregon a few times. I can remember when she came while cherries were ripe and she so enjoyed my Dad picking cherries up high in the tree with a fishing pole.
So I have some good memories of my aunts.
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