Mother's Day

Yesterday, mom treated us to supper at El Camino. When we returned back to Nonnie's room at the nursing home, we took this picture:

The picture isn't fantastic, but the quality of the picture isn't as important as who's in the picture. There are four generations in this picture. Growing up, I knew two of my great-grandmothers. I spent time with them and have vivid memories of time spent with them. I've been blessed to know both my grandmothers and make many memories with them.

Sadie had the opportunity to know my Grandma Gracie for a little while. She was very young when Grandma passed away, but she vaguely remembers her. Unfortunately, Parkinson's had set in and Sadie didn't get to know Grandma like we did. My children have been very blessed to know both their grandmothers and even more blessed to spend time with their great-grandmother, Nonnie. Sadie can still remember helping her make biscuits. T.S. and Sadie both enjoy going to visit Nonnie at the nursing home. They are making memories there now.

Sadie and T.S. love spending time with my mom, their GeGe. They are always ready to help her with farming. They know exactly where the popsicles and microwave popcorn are at her house.

I just wanted to capture four generations of our family together, I'm sure Sadie will someday understand what an incredible thing that was/is.

Recipe of the Week: Nonnie's Caramel Brownies

My blog-friend Granny Sue is searching for a brownie recipe. Which made me think of Nonnie's Caramel Brownies. She sent them to us at college. All of my friends thought they were fantastic. One of my college roommates still makes them. She told me that people at her husband's workplace requested them. My cousin Jay goes crazy for them. I made them this summer. They were good, but not as good as Nonnie's. I don't know what she does differently. These are a must-try, a staple in your dessert arsenal. The only thing better is if Nonnie makes them for you.

Nonnie's Caramel Brownies
1 (14oz) pkg. Kraft caramels
1/3 c. evaporated milk
1 German chocolate cake mix
1/3 c. evaporated milk
1 1/2 sticks melted oleo (that would be margarine or butter for you young ones)
2 c. chocolate chips
1 c. pecans, chopped

1. Melt together the caramels and evaporated milk (just 1/3 c.) over low heat.
2. In another bowl, stir together the cake mix, evaporated milk and oleo. Press half of mixture into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 6-7 minutes.
3. Sprinkle chocolate chips and pecans over the crust. Pour the caramel mixture over the chocolate chips and pecans.
4. Crumble the remaining dough over the caramel mixture. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Do not overcook.
5. Cool and cut into bars.

Cook's Notes:

• This can also be found in the Rainbow cookbook--if you grew up with me you know what that is.
• Nonnie always stored these between layers of waxed paper in Christmas tins (regardless of the season).
• By the time one of my cousins was in school, she individually wrapped his so they'd keep longer--he'd lock them in his filing cabinet so his roommate wouldn't eat them.
• She mailed mine to me in shoeboxes. The postage today would be outrageous because they are heavy.
• My job as a kid was to unwrap all of the caramels.

Free Dr. Pepper

Check this story out! Dr. Pepper is going to give everyone a free Dr. Pepper. I won't be staying up late so I can be the first to get my free Dr. Pepper. But, I think we all should go to the Dr. Pepper site and get our coupon Sunday.

Speaking of Dr. Pepper, our house is divided. Robby and Sadie are "Peppers" and T.S. and I are Coke drinkers. My whole life, Nonnie was a Coke drinker, too. She also loved a Hershey bar. She'd keep both in the fridge (she even let us put peanut butter and marshmallows on our candy bar--you should try it). Now that she is in the nursing home, she has been preferring Dr. Pepper and Butterfingers--go figure.

As a kid, I remember we were in Ruidoso one year at an art festival--we got to take the Pepsi challenge. I chose the Coke.

Robby really likes the Dublin Dr. Peppers that have real sugar in them. He also swears there are really 23 flavors like they advertise.

One other thing--shouldn't the band "Guns'N'Roses" be retired by now and possibly in a nursing home?

Biscuits

I was reading Granny Sue's News and Reviews today--I'd like to visit her. She is a story teller that lives in the Appalachians. Anyway, she gave her biscuit recipe today. I do not intend on making biscuits, the womp-um ones are just fine, thank you. And, we have the frozen ones for special occasions.

What I am getting to is that it brought back really good memories of Nonnie making biscuits. When we asked for the recipe, she would always say that it depended on how many people were eating that day. No matter how pressed for time she was, she would always let Sadie help her. I wish I had a picture of the little toddler sitting on that cabinet helping make biscuits. Nonnie would always let Sadie "make" a few of her own and bake them. Usually by the time Sadie was finished playing with the dough, they didn't rise much and turned out a little hard when cooked.

I am so grateful that Sadie, Nonnie and I have that memory. Sadie still talks about making biscuits.

El Camino Update

We took Nonnie to El Camino today for lunch. Right off Sadie noticed they had new menus. Nonnie laughed and said she could guess what was new. Much to our surprise cheese dips have gone up to $4.25. Nonnie never hesitated, we all got to have our own.

Memories

Today T.S. wanted a carrot to eat with his soup. When I sat down to eat I helped myself to a carrot stick and was reminded of going to El Camino in Tulia to eat when I was little. A long time ago, they would bring a relish plate to your table when they brought your chips. I remember the carrot sticks were always really good. I believe they kept them in ice water until time to serve. They were especially good in cheese dip. Nonnie would let each of us get our own cheese dip. Which is something we still do today.

Another thing I remembered was going to eat there with Grandma and Grandad and several cousins for something. We all got to have sopapillas. We were allowed to not only have honey with them but to mix sugar with our honey. The honey came in honey bears. We started squeezing them until just a little honey was coming out, then we'd let go and the honey would go back in the bottle. We were all laughing so hard that Grandma was in tears. We recall that story often and always have a laugh. Honey doesn't come in the bears anymore, it does come in packets and is still good on sopapillas with sugar mixed in. (I tried it again this summer just to be sure).

The relish plates and honey bears are a thing of the past, but out own individual cheese dip and it being a treat to go with Nonnie to El Camino are things that haven't changed.