Memories

I have been doing Christmas baking for a dessert party we are having with people from Greg's ofice and I have been baking and making lists of what I still need to bake.  This reminds me of my mom because we used to have grand Christmas baking days to make things for family, friends, neighbors, and teachers at school. 

I have also been missing my Aunt Lynda in Norcross because I made a pound cake today and the recipe is from her and she is the one who taught me how to make it.  We had "pound cake school" at her house one day after Christmas the year I got a Kitchenaid stand mixer as a gift from Mom and Dad-I was in high school.  I also miss my mixer!  The handmixer that I bought myself here is so wimpy and sad!  It has gotten tired and quit on me 3 times in the course of mixing up a pound cake.

Aunt Lynda is also the one who introduced us to making "buckeyes" at Christmas.  I only remember mom and I making them one Christmas because a recipe seems to make thousands and it seems to take forever to roll them out and dip them.  For anyone who (very sadly) does not know what a buckeye is-it is a peanut butter and powdered sugar, butter and lots of other good stuff ball and then you dip the balls in melted chocolate.  They are wonderfully delicious but I don't know how well they would survive the heat and humidity of Manila.  Real buckeyes are nuts that grow on trees sort of like chestnuts.

Aunt Lynda is actually my dad's cousin-they were very close growing up and I grew up across the street from them.  My mom was also a dear friend of Aunt Lynda's sister-my Aunt Ann who lives in Colorado.  Another funny Aunt Lynda story (that I tell on myself-not her) is that my very first Sunday in "big church" as a child, Aunt Lynda was in the choir.  At the beginning of the service, the choir walked down the aisles from the back of the church and up into the choir loft.  I gave them just enough time to get settled and all to be nice and quiet before standing up on the pew and yelling "Hey Aunt Lynda!"  I'm sure my mom wanted to crawl under the pew.  The pastor turned around to my aunt and asked her if she was going to say hello!  She waved to me.  Can you tell yet that I grew up in a small town???

Well, we will have to see how the pound cake turns out-between the sad mixer and my slightly off temperature oven-maybe it will be okay.  I'll let you know later!