• Christmas,  family,  life after 50,  writing

    Baking and Christmas memories

    My family doesn’t have many Christmas traditions but I treasure the ones we have. Baking sweet treats during the holiday is one of my favorites. My Grandma Rose was the master baker in our family. She played bridge with ladies each week and they took turns bringing a dessert. Between her friends and Grandma’s eagle eye for yummy recipes in the newspaper, she acquired the best recipes imaginable. When I was little, I’d sometimes stay overnight with my grandparents on Friday, and Saturday morning my Grandma and I would make cookies together. This was after she served her famous Swedish pancakes (crepes) for breakfast! She knew most of the recipes…

  • alpaca,  grandma,  knitting

    Blogging from A to Z: Knitting

    Über soft scarf knitted from alpaca fiber. My grandmother was a big knitter. She’d knit sweaters and afghans for all of her grandchildren. If you were pregnant, your newborn would receive a knitted sweater, booties and hat, all hand-made by my Grandma. One of my most prized possessions to this day is the collection of knit clothing she made for my Barbie dolls. She made a skirt and blouse combo, a stole (women had those in the 60s and 70s), dresses and many other items. She must have knit them with teeny weeny needles because I’ve never seen such fine stitchery. I thought I was the luckiest girl in the…