In honor of my mother this Mother's Day, I am joining Barb (Foley's Follies) and many other bloggers in tributes to our Moms. Please click on the link above to visit Barb's blog and see the others participating.
This is my mother, Alma, on her wedding day in 1943. A bride during wartime there wasn't a fancy wedding but a new wedding suit and a ceremony in the pastor's parsonage. Below, is the one and only photo I have of just me and my mom (the others include siblings and dad). We were on a camping vacation in northern MN and notice she is wearing a dress. I don't think I saw my mom wear anything besides dresses until I was in high school and those polyester pantsuits came in style during the early 70's. She was a fantastic seamstress and sewed all of her clothes as well as most of ours..jpg)
This is the last "nice" photo I have of her taken at my wedding, she was fighting for her life battling with cancer but still looking beautiful! Within a year she was gone...breast cancer took her away from us at age 54. How I wish she could have seen me grow as a woman and to meet my wonderful children...I always hope I have done a good enough job of instilling in them my memories of her....jpg)
I am honored to have her good dishes and I too save them for special occasions.
The pattern is Tea Rose by Knowles...I used one of her sets of earrings for napkin rings.
When I store these dishes in the cabinet I even keep the cups in the bowl like she always did...Mother's know best.
We grew up a "meat and potatoes" farm family and mom always had a large vegetable garden. Many hours were spent freezing and canning vegetables and we bought fresh fruit by the case when in season and mom canned all of our own peaches, pears, cherries and plums. She was a wonderful cook and we always had great meals and I decided to some of my favorites for my tribute meal. First off is the salad...orange jello with grated carrots and sometimes my favorite way to have it included crushed pineapple. Then scalloped potatoes which was always served with meatloaf at home (which I also love) but for this meal I chose country style pork ribs. Our vegetable is probably my very favorite...carmelized butternut squash.
The centerpiece of our table was also dessert...Mom's Mile High pie. This was a favorite of our childhood and in her last months when I was her caregiver and we would go through her recipes so I could copy my favorites I found out it had uncooked egg whites in it. I haven't had it since and it has been over 33 years. I have often wondered if it tasted as good as I remembered it and now with pastuerized egg whites I thought it would be "safe" to make. Note to my sisters/brothers...it was all I remembered and more...delicious!
These photos don't do it justice...it had started to melt while sitting pretty as our centerpiece.
Mom's Recipes
Salad - grate homegrown carrots into orange jello.
Scalloped potatoes - her version involved cream of mushroom soup...mine is simply cream, onions, salt and pepper.
Squash - peel and cube a butternut squash. Bake with a generous amount of brown sugar and a few pats of butter. Stir occassionally to carmelize.
Country Style Pork ribs
Brown the meat on all sides. Mix together
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vinegar
2 TB ketchup
2 TB brown sugar
1 TB dry mustard
Pour over meat and continue to cook at med heat until the pork is done and the sauce evaporates down to a thick bbq sauce.
Mile High Pie
1 10oz pkg of frozen strawberries
1 cup sugar
2 egg whites (I used Eggbeaters pastuerized egg whites from a carton)
1/8 tsp salt
1 TB lemon juice
1/2 pint whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla
Baked 9 inche pie shell
Place partially thawed strawberries, sugar, egg whites, salt and lemon juice in the mixer bowl and beat at medium speed 15 minutes or until mixture holds it's shape. In a separate bowl, whip the cream and add the vanilla. Fold into the strawberry mixture. Put lightly into the pre-baked pie shell and freeze two hours or overnight.
Some of the other mementos I treasure of my mom are pieces of her jewelry, an enameled compact given to her by my dad and a tube of her lipstick.
11 comments:
Marsha, what a beautiful tribute to your beloved mom. I just love the way you and your mom store the tea cups. The rose dishes and your tablesetting are perfect for your tribute. What a neat idea using her earrings for napkin holders.
Your mom looked beautiful both on her wedding day and yours. Some of the women from a hiking group in our area went hiking with old fashioned dresses on. Camping in a dress just blows my mind :-)
Thank you for the recipes, and again, a beautiful tribute. Happy Mother's Day to you Marsha!
Glad you have your Mom's recipes and some of her pretty dishes and other reminders. Cherish those sweet memories of your Mom always. Happy Mother's day to you.
Joyce
I love your tribute to your mom and all the recipes, I'd have loved to be invited to your table! Very cool way to store the cups, and the earrings! Such wonderful memories and she's a part of everything you do!
Happy Mother's Day, Marsha!
Lovely tribute to your mother, Marsha. I've heard you speak of hear often as you've shared momentos and memories. I would think that Mother's Day might be both sweet and bittersweet.
Beautiful wedding picture of your mother ... very lovely and what a sweet picture of you and your mom. And yes, I, too remember women always in dresses back then
Your mom's dishes are so pretty and I've never seen cups stored that way very practical and pretty.
Marsha, I still make the jello, grated carrots, and pineapple salad as my mother made. We use lemon jello instead or orange.
Lovely post, Marsha ... Happy Mother's Day
I think there were many similarities between your mother and mine, Marsha. I only saw my mother were a dress on several occasions, one of which was my wedding. My mother also made a jello salad with carrots.
I love the pictures of your mother on her wedding day and yours. I'm sure your mom would be very proud of you today :)
Happy Mother's Day, Marsha!
Marsha - Your post brought back memories I had forgotten about..I love the photo of your Mom on her wedding day..and that cute pixie hair cut of yours!! I don't think I remember my Mom in 'pants' until into the 1970's also!
The recipes are also familiar, the orange salad with grated carrots..will have to try the Mile high pie this summer!!
The Tea Rose dishes look like some pieces my Mom had..I'm going to have to ask my sister, she has all of them!
Thank you so much for sharing your Mother with us!!
That was lovely, Marsha..I am sure your kids have heard so many wonderful stories about her she will be in their memories too...
That pie looks delicious, and I love how you store those cups! My mom always used those little hooks..funny the things we remember..
Happy Mother's Day, I know what a wonderful mom you are to your son and daughter!
I'm so sorry you lost your wonderful Mom at such a young age...but she left you a loving legacy...great post...Thanks
Becky
Marsha, what a great tribute to your Mom. So sorry that she was taken from you with breast cancer. Such a dreadful disease. I pray there will be a cure soon.
I love the rose dishes..very pretty and I plan to make that pie, it looks delicious!
Thanks for stopping by my blog.
Marsha, your tribute is just lovely as I see your Mother was. I so wish you could have had her longer. You have wonderful memories that I know you will always cherish. Thank you for this beautiful post.
J@S&S
Oh my Goodness how did I miss your Mother's Day post Marsha?????? Scratching my head! I love it too. What a great tribute to your mother. I love all of the photos and the recipes. I have never seen a mile high strawberry pie. Unique and I bet absolutely delicious. My mom has some very similar dishes. The single rose was a very popular theme in the 40s and 50s. I'm sorry you lost her so early. I know the two of you would have shared so much. I'm happy you have these good memories to share with us though! I am very sorry I missed this when you first posted Marsha. You did a wonderful job.
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