Hand Carved

Great grandparents~ Flora and Joseph. 

Hand Carved. 

Smooth wood block
Intricately carved into 
crescent shape
Great grandpa’s handiwork 
Sweet smell of butter 
emanates from
cookie mold
Buttery cookies 
melt in your mouth 
Passed down through 
generations

Great grandpa’s cookie mold for making crescent cookies. 

Family recipe that uses the cookie mold.   You can also make them into thumbprint  filled cookies.

Now that the weather here has cooled down a bit, I think I’ll bake up a batch of nut crescent cookies. 

Irene at Live Your Poem is today’s Poetry Friday host. She has the round up of everyone who is participating in Poetry Friday.  

John’s Fix-It Shop

“Poetry Break!”

My grandpa’s sign (made by my mom). 

John’s Fix-It Shop

Come on in!
Stay a while. 
We’ll put the coffee on. 
kitchen table,
chockablock with tools and parts,
even a coffee pot or two  
Grandpa works at the table  
Customers come and go. 
John’s Fix-It Shop
occupies grandma’s kitchen 
Customers stay a while -
they sit and chat. 
Put the coffee on. 
Stay a while. 
John’s Fix-It Shop 
is always open. 

When I was growing up, my grandpa had a small business that, after a while, found its way into my grandparents kitchen. When customers stopped in, they were invited to have a cup of coffee (perked in a Faberware percolator coffee pot) and some of whatever treat grandma had made. Grandpa repaired Faberware products. His most popular repairs were done on percolator coffee pots. When I moved into my first apartment, I was given a Faberware 4 cup coffee pot and a Faberware electric fry pan. These were two of my favorite small appliances  To this day, I prefer the taste of coffee from a percolator coffee pot. I hope you enjoyed your visit to John’s Fix-It Shop!  Stop in again, won’t you?

Here’s grandma’s recipe for kolacki in an old church cookbook.
You’d have been lucky to sample these if you stopped by!

Grandma and grandpa’s wedding photo.
November 29, 1946

Margaret at Reflections On the Teche is today’s Poetry Friday host.  Besides rounding up all of the poetry offerings, she is sharing a goodbye poem to her students.

Grandma’s Teacups

In case you missed it, check out my other blog to see what a “Poetry Break!”is,
 Mrs. Merrill’s Book Break blog.   

My dad’s mom, Dorothy. 

Teacups

Grandma drank her coffee

from a teacup each day

shaking hand

cup chatters against saucer

only the ladies 

got to drink 

from her teacup collection -

a girls’ tea party

each daughter and granddaughter

now possess one 

of her cherished teacups

now I drink my coffee

from grandma’s teacup

Grandma’s teacup. 

Today’s Poetry Friday round up is being hosted by Mary Lee at A Year of Reading. Make sure you click on over to visit her blog for some poetry goodness.

Speaking of goodness, check out some of my favorite tea party treasures.

A little board book that my girls had.
We used to have lots of tea parties!

I bought my copy of this while on a European vacation. 

What could be better than a poetry tea party?

And now, two tea party recipes from my “rescued” recipe box (Vintage Recipe Box)

Spiced Tea

Oatmeal Cookies 

The Big Yellow Bowl

This is my Poetry Break sign!

Read about my Poetry Breaks! at my other blog, Mrs. Merrill’s Book break.  I’m missing sharing poetry with children on a daily basis. 

Today I’m sharing another poem about a family treasure, my grandma’s big yellow Pyrex bowl. 

My mom’s mom, Hilda. 

Hilda’s big yellow Pyrex bowl

Holding Memories

I am well used

I hold so much -

potato salad

bread dough

kolachkis

love . . .

I now sit

in  granddaughter’s kitchen

I hold so much love

grandma’s potato salad

grandma’s bread dough

grandma’s kolachkis 

Holding memories

I am a well loved  

beautiful, yellow bowl

Today’s Poetry Friday hostess is Carol at Beyond Literacy. Stop over to her blog to sample everyone’s poetry sharing. 

Grandma’s Measuring Spoons

Happy Poetry Friday!  I’m so grateful for all of you and for this wonderful poetry community. I learn so much from all of you and get to enjoy your poetry love. Today’s Poetry Roundup is being hosted by Jama at Jama’s Alphabet Soup.  Be sure to click on over to her site for lots of poetry deliciousness.


Grandma’s Measuring Spoons

Grandma’s measuring spoons. 

These old measuring spoons belonged to my grandma. When she passed, my oldest daughter was just shy of a year old. She used to babysit for Sienna a couple of hours a week.Grandma adored her time with Sienna. She often held her as a small infant, the entire time the two were together. As Sienna became older and more active, Grandma put her in her highchair and played with her. One of Sienna’s favorite “toys,” was grandma’s measuring spoons.  These spoons that I now use every day, were The inspiration for this poem.

Spoons

In her kitchen 
measuring tool
Loyal companion 
in making treats
Baby rattle

In my kitchen 
measuring tool
Loyal companion
measuring coffee cream
Daily reminder of grandma

Vintage Recipe Box

Thank you so much to all of you in the Poetry Friday community that have been reading and commenting on my poems and posts. It means the world to me.  Virtual hugs!


I love to shop antique stores, flea markets, thrift stores, and garage sales. Since I haven’t been able to do this recently, I began browsing eBay. I came across this treasure- a vintage recipe box, filled with handwritten and collected recipes. I knew I had to give it a home!  As I browsed through the recipe box’s contents, I thought a lot about its original owner and why someone would want to sell it. I wrote about it in my journal and this week’s poem came into being.

Vintage recipe box.

Filled with handwritten and collected recipes. 

Vintage Recipe Box

Hand painted yellow, wooden box
embellished with strawberries
I wonder who gave you up?
You hold collected and handwritten recipes
Worn with time and use
You are a treasure
a bridge to bygone days
a window into the lives
of ancestors
I wonder who gave you up?
embellished with strawberries
Hand painted yellow, wooden box.

Today’s Poetry Friday host is Michelle at Today’s Little Ditty. Click on over to visit her and all who are posting and sharing poetry love today. 

Recipe for Fun!

Welcome to Poetry Friday!  Today’s host is Liz at Liz Steinglass. Click over to her site where you’ll find a wealth of poetry-loving people, who are sharing that love with all of us.

A Poetry Challenge for NaPoMo

This year I had decided to participate in National Poetry Month by posting a poem that I had written with a food theme, each Friday of April. I’ve enjoyed stretching my writing muscles in this way, so I’m planning to continue posting on Fridays in this way. For now, I’m enjoying the food theme and have gone down the “rabbit hole” of food, family, and recipes.  This has me looking deeper into my family, memories, and my family’s history and heritage.

Me and my brother, Jeremy
1976

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

When I was a kid, I loved it when my mom made Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes. It was always so much fun eating them. I'm pretty sure she made them for me to take to school for a birthday celebration. Of course, since my birthday was in July, I brought them in the last week of school. Mom would also make them for my actual birthday and sometimes that would be a slumber party. Eating cupcakes in the form of an ice Cream Cone was always extra special. 

Naturally, I had to make them for my own girls. These cupcakes were a staple in our house. Birthdays, just for fun days, lemonade stand days, girl days, a fun activity to do with our cousins day, and even for snack days at school. On those days, we substituted a muffin recipe for the cupcake version. 

My daughter Sarah making them a couple weeks ago.
2020

Recipe for Fun

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes
Birthdays
Snack days
Lemonade~stand days
Just~for~fun days

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes
Favorite cake mix
Fill cones
just to the brim
Bake and cool

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes
Waiting is so hard
Frosting on top
Lots of sprinkles
Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

  

My girls and my nieces baking ice cream cone cupcakes
2006

Me and all my little bakers.
2006

Ingredients:

Flat bottom ice cream cones

Cake mix 

Frosting 

Sprinkles 

Directions:

1. Make cake mix according to package directions. 
2. Spoon batter into ice cream cones, leaving about ½ an inch from the top of the Cone. 
3. Carefully arrange cones inside muffin tin for baking. 
4. Bake according to package directions. 
5. Allow ice Cream Cone Cupcakes to cool thoroughly. 
6. Frost Cupcakes and embellish with sprinkles. 
7. Enjoy eating an ice Cream Cone cupcake anytime of year for any occasion!  
8. Read a great book while eating your ice cream cones. 

Here are some of my favorite cupcake books!