As my mom’s life slowly unravels – her brain forgetting my name, her thoughts floating in a vast ocean of faded blues – I wish I could thank her for her cakes.
Of course, over the past two years I think of a myriad of items I’d like to thank her for, but my mom has never been comfortable with conversation that goes beyond “what should we do now?” She didn’t talk about philosophical issues, or the past, and definitely not the future. She pursued fun and the company of others. Spending time sipping coffee and talking about “life” was not on her list of fun.
Which is why I realize now what a treat she gave my brother and me. Every Friday night, our mom baked a cake. Yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Chocolate cake with vanilla frosting. Angel food cake with one or the other. She tried a gingerbread cake in the fall. She made us each a cake for our birthdays (never store-bought) in March and October.
But the amazing part of her baking prowess was that my mom didn’t like to bake and she certainly didn’t care for desserts.
It wasn’t until I went away to college and returned home that first time, two and a half months later, to the smell of just-baked chocolate chip cookies that I realized two things: my mom missed me, and she had never baked cookies before. In fact, my 18-year-old mind suddenly comprehended that I had never seen my mom eat sweets. She considered sugar as palatable as, say, baking soda or corn starch.
Yet, my brother and I enjoyed a freshly baked two-layer cake once a week.
When I raised my own family, I baked a cake every Friday for 18 years before my two kids left for college. Now, I notice that my daughter bakes a cake for her family of three children several times a month.
My son’s wife has probably never baked a day in her life. (I think he married a woman like his grandmother.) So when I send cookies and brownies to their three young boys in San Francisco, I become the best grandmother in the world.
Thank you, Mom.
Bless her. We never had store-bought baking in our house. Mom was always baking. She made her own bread, cakes, cookies, buns, everything. The best and most favourite was her German Kuchen. She enjoyed it as much as dad and us kids did but left the smallest piece for herself. I still much prefer homemade baking and enjoy creating my own cakes etc. I have thanked her many times.
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“She left the smallest piece for herself.” Another example of a mom’s love. Like you, I don’t enjoy any baking/sweets that aren’t homemade. They just taste…. stale. Love has an amazing flavor.
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I love that your mother baked a cake, Pam. Maybe she wanted to celebrate the weekend and being at home with her children. My mother baked brownies frequently and served them with Jello. Great memories!
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Now THAT brings back memories – JELLO. My mom made a green Jello “salad” with fruit inside. People make fun of that old-fashioned recipe now, but as a child, that was the only way I tolerated fruit. 🙂 Jill – here’s to our moms. Deep inside, they feel our love for them.
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❤
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what a beautiful gift/tradition
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Thanks, Beth. Some might think cake was bad to grow up on.
They’d be wrong. 🙂
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I agree
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What a lovely way to show her love for her kids.
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My mom was not an affectionate mother nor did she speak of love out loud. But she sure did SHOW it in wonderful ways. xo Cheers, Mary.
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What a wonderful memory.
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Memories are keepsakes. xo
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How sweet. I like to bake, but I did it much more when my kids were younger. However…this month I’ve baked cookies for a block party, brownies for my son to take to a tailgate party and a birthday cake! As we’ve gotten older, we don’t like sweets as much (even my kids!), but it’s still nice to have something home-made in the house. Your mom did a great thing and look how her tradition has carried on! 🙂
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“As we’ve gotten older, we don’t like sweets as much…” Um. I only wish. This ‘older’ woman has not lost her sweet tooth. Whaaa. Actually, that’s not true. I still love sweets, but one bite does it for me. Sugar seems to shoot straight into my head and I get a (too big) rush.
Lucky for your block party peeps and son’s tailgate party peeps and the birthday person. I think part of the enjoyment of making sweets now is the (happy) reaction from the receiver. xo
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I think so too, Pam!
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How wonderful to be the best grandmother in the world. You can’t do better than that. My mum made lots of cakes and biscuits (your cookies). I think they were a fairly cheap way of filling up the hoards. She used to make me a marble cake for my birthday. It was very special. She didn’t (as far as I remember) make it for anyone else. I’m not sure why it was just for me, but I was glad.
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Oh, Norah, I haven’t heard about a “marble” cake in decades, but my mom used to make one of those, too. A cake mix came with some vanilla and some chocolate to swirl in the batter. It was yummy! Don’t see that around here anymore. What a special treat from your mom to you. ❤
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My marble cake had strawberry (pink) as well as chocolate and vanilla. It was very special. 🙂
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What a lovely tradition your mom made for you and your brother! And such a lovely memory, too.
It’s wonderful that you bake for your grandchildren, but I’m sure you’d be the best grandmother anyway!
My mom cooked, but she didn’t bake very often, and she always worked outside the home. I became the family baker when I was a teen.
My mom has quite a sweet tooth now–and we let her eat cake. She’s 97–why not? 🙂
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Interesting that you became the baker when a teen, and obviously have continued that tradition (I love your pix on Instagram). 🙂 Our moms are going through similar health problems, and one of the strange things that have occurred as my mom lives in dementia is that she now…. loves sweets. The staff at her memory care facility explained that with great old age (as our moms – 95 and 97), taste goes away except for — sweet.
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Oh, that makes sense. Yes, she’s also eaten more kind of junky foods that her aides sometimes give her–but I guess it’s salty or sweet, so she tastes it more. I usually cooked dinner, too.
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My mother loved to bake and expressed her love with her cookies and pies and cakes. She was emotionally reserved, so this was her way. I’m glad you’re carrying on the baking tradition in your family. It’ll be something that your grandkids will remember fondly in years to come.
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“Emotionally reserved” is a great expression and how my mom was (better than saying “unaffectionate”) But yes, they showed their love in a myriad of other ways. ❤
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No surprise, here…all in the cards – great Mom, great kids… ♥♥
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Moms have such an important job; besides baking cakes, they get to bake little beings into loving happy adult ones. ❤
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PS. Billy Ray, I’m having a hard time getting to your up-to-date blog (if I hit your name here, it just takes me to Oct 2018 post and nothing newer). Could you leave your link here? THANKS.
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I’m with your mom. Sweet doesn’t always taste pleasant to me. And cake? Not appealing at all. I don’t enjoy baking, but I’m quite good at it when I choose to make things for other people, which I always do out of love.
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I bow to you in humbleness, Arlene, and wish I also had no desire for sweets. But the fact that you still bake for love – that means everything!
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My mother always baked on a Saturday so we have treats for Sunday company. I was allowed to have a piece on Saturday which was always special. Somehow I always relate desserts and treats to weekends even now.
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You gave me a pleasant shiver, Kate. Sweets equating to weekends and, even more, a mother’s love. How wonderful is that? ❤
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I’ve got tears in my eyes, Pam. I understand to a point the heartache you are living right now. I just lost my Mom 2 years ago. But dementia is another story all together. How wonderful that your Mom gave to you a tradition to carry on with your own family. And how wise of you to understand that was her way of showing she loves you.
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Thanks for your understanding and empathy, Amy. I must admit, it took me awhile (too long) to understand my mom’s love via baking. But when I was an adult and living across the country and I visited my mom, she’d create the most delicious dinners for me (scallops and scalloped potatoes, fresh salmon and wild rice, etc.) that as I sat at the dining room table with her and watched the sparkle in her eyes, I knew how much she loved me (Yup, okay, I’ve got tears in my eyes.) To our moms and their love, my friend, which even if they’re ‘gone’ never fades. xo
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My Mom didn’t know how to show me love, the way I know a Mom can show love towards a child. But, she did show me she loved me by sewing me these beautiful clothes, teaching me how to knit and crochet, sharing her love of reading with me so that I too have that love. Terrible circumstances in an alcoholic marriage where so much violence happened towards the kids which created so much hatred in my heart. Years later, as she was dying, I deliberately put my anger aside and chose to love her, to get to know her, and more importantly for her to get to know me, for who I am. For one year out of my entire life, I knew the love from my Mom that I knew I could have. We ended up learning how much we really have in common! And not only that, she loved me exactly for who I am and I her. Most of my siblings to this day carry anger in their hearts from what transpired in our childhood. My heart on the other hand, holds so much LOVE for my Mom. It’s been a little over 2 years she has been gone and there are times I miss her so much I double over in anguish. Walking from hate to love with my Mom was one of the Greatest Gifts I have ever given myself. Here is to our Moms and their love, the ways they knew how to express. And no that love never does fade, Pam. I have tears on my face …..
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Well, I join you in tears – but tears of gratefulness and understanding. What a gift and a blessing you and your mom gave to each other. Amazing Grace. ❤
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xo
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Lovely and poignant, Pam. Great big hug.
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Sweets to you, Teagan, and an extra big hug back. xo
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Alzheimer runs in my family, so I know the feeling and frustration of watching a loved one forgetting. But she built a strong foundation, and one day a great grandchild will talk about her friday tradition. I’m a baker, the kind that likes to try everything – cakes, pastries, cookies – and my children love to sit beside me and help me cut the cookies, or play with a piece of dough. I don’t bake every week, but I do at least once a month.
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Yummm, I wonder what’re your favorite cake/cookies to bake? I think I might want your recipes.:-)
Yes, I’m baking up a storm, so to speak, for my grandkids. I have each one come by him/herself and learn to mix and crack the eggs and sample the batter. (Starting at 5 years old.) They may not remember each particular day with me, but they’ll remember the cakes and cookies, for sure. ❤
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sampling batter, yum. My favorite to bake are chocolate cake and chocolate chip cookies,. Your grandkids will remember most of it, I’m sure.
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What a beautiful post. And what a wonderful tradition that you and your daughter have carried on. When the cook in the house makes something that he or she doesn’t really care for, simply as a way of showing love, that’s really special. I love to cook for my family, but we don’t have a tradition like yours–I wish we had.
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Ohhh, Amy, I must disagree with you. From the recipes you’ve shared on your blog, many handed down and many beloved by your kids, I’d say you have a great tradition going on…. xo
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❤
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What a touching, sweet post! ❤
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❤
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What a beautiful gesture of love. My mother baked and I bake. Since I have only sons, the tradition ends with me. Though my sisters and nieces continue the tradition in their families.
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My son tries to bake now and then. The cutest time was when he made some chocolate chip cookies with his three little boys watching (or should I say tried to make?). The boys ate them, but the expressions on their faces was rather priceless. 🙂 Cheers to you, fellow baker.
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I’m glad you have fond memories and traditions to carry forward as your mom’s memory slides. Hugs…
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When I was younger I thought traditions were a bit of a yawn. Not any more…. ❤
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I can relate Pam.
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Bless your mom and you too.
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Thank you, John. Hope you’re having a ‘sweet’ day.
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The fact that your mother didn’t like baking or eating cakes, but baked them for you anyway, shows even more how much she loved you. What a good mom!
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I know, Anneli. And I’m hitting my forehead that I didn’t figure that out when I was a kid and enjoyed those cakes. I hope she knows, somehow, how much her baking love is understood now.
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I’m sure she knows. She may forget but when she remembers, she knows.
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I feel for you in the place that you are at with your mom. My mom passed away about 20 months ago now. The last few years were a challenge as her dementia passed, but I liked to tell her stories such as this for being the amazing person she was.
It is wise to focus on the positives of your mother’s life and her influence on you rather than her present condition. What a beautiful story about the importance of traditions.
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*dementia progressed
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Your words of understanding are so helpful, Pete. I’m sorry you and your mom also experienced her loss of memory (and much more) with dementia. And I send you sympathies. My mom, at 95, keeps on going even though she’s wheelchair-bound and doesn’t have her memories to comfort her. However, every once in a while she smiles and I can see her in there. What a gift. To remembering the core of our loved ones. ❤
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I was brought up on a farm and my mom baked almost every weekend for all the people living there. As she got older she continued to bake for my brother and later for my niece . Another beautiful post Pam, it’s difficult to see your loved ones fade away.
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Thanks for sharing the beautiful memory of your mom’s baking, Gerlinde. I’m sure that’s where you get your amazing baking prowess!
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My heart is pulled in many directions reading this Pam. The sadness of your mom no longer knowing you which is heartbreaking. That balanced with the loving memories of the weekly cake and how that has carried on through the generations. Sending hugs your way.
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My thoughts exactly, Sue. Well said!
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Yes, sometimes I hesitate talking about what my mom is going through, but then I realize that so many of us have a parent declining in some way, and sharing our memories of their loving actions and the difference they have made in our lives – it’s all positive. ❤
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I love that the tradition passed on. One small act shows so much love.
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You expressed it perfectly here. One small act (of kindness, of a smile, a hug, a baked cake) goes a long way to showing deep love. xo
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Awww, so moving. I am sorry she is fading, but it sounds like she left you with wonderful memories.
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My mom has left me with a zillion memories. I’ve written about some of them in past posts, and will share them with her great-grandchildren at some point. You record memories of your environment amazingly on your blog. Thank you so much for visiting here!
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Very interesting and touching how your Mom showed love with baking cakes. It is a good reminder to me to truly pay attention to the many forms of love. It is also interesting how traditions (love) gets passed on in a family. Thank you for the beautiful story Pam:)
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I thought I was writing a “too simple” post here, Erica, and I find instead that I’ve touched a beautiful button with so many people. Expressing love in ways that may seem quiet or unstated, may be the best way to show how we feel. ;-0 <3.
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You always have a beautiful way of expressing your thoughts, Pam. We relate to the feelings. Thank you🙂
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What a poignant post! Like my feminine relatives, your mother equated food with love, I gather. Surprisingly, your mother didn’t even LIKE cake. Oh, my!
(Yellow cake with chocolate frosting is my favorite!)
With all the cake in the house, Pam dear, how do you stay SO THIN!
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Oh believe me, Marian, I have “cake curves.” 🙂 That’s why I do so many “cakewalks.” Ho boy, I’m on a roll (or is that a biscuit?). Help! Make me stop! Seriously, thank you for your response. Yes, I think feeding our loves ones with food that sustains and comforts is a universal way of showing how much we care. ❤
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Such memories make us what we are Pam and that’s why moms have been equated with God, their love and care has been irreplaceable.
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As always, you respond in a beautiful, poetic, and meaningful way, Balroop. And you’re right, in so many ways “mom” is the Spirit guide and comfort and all-time hugger and supporter throughout our lives.
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Tell me that is not love right there.
My mother baked rarely. However, her pies came out at Thanksgiving and Christmas! She’d make as many flavours as there were people!
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You’re so right, that is love right there. I’m trying to imagine different pie flavors for, say, 10 people: pumpkin, apple, mince meat; chocolate; cherry, blueberry, strawberry; rhubarb….:-) I better stop, I’m drooling. 🙂
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Sugar, strawberry-rhubarb, raspberry…
OK, I’ll stop.
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More drool…..
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What a beautiful legacy your mom gave you all. I love this cake tradition. And all that it means.
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I’m so glad my mom began the “cake tradition” (and although her mom, my grandmother, died too young when I was about 5, I believe she began the tradition) instead of, say, the liver and onion tradition. 🙂 xo
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Oh the liver and onion tradition died with me!!! I NEVER made it. 😉
I do love this tradition. And I love that it goes on still.
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What a sweet tribute to your mom. Gosh, I’m sorry she and you are going through this decline.
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Thank you, Luanne. My mom was as active as a 40-year-old until she turned 89. So a good life, until it wasn’t. But she has loving family and friends around her often. ❤
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That is such a help. When my father was declining he had a lot of love surrounding him, and it made things better for everyone especially for him.
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❤
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I love hearing about family traditions. In my family, my maternal grandmother was a fabulous baker and so were my Mom and her two older sisters. Naturally or fortunately, so were all the granddaughters. My Mom always baked a beautiful chiffon cake with a very light buttery glaze on it for Dad and her children’s birthdays. It was such a very special treat to enjoy her very special cake. . . Mom passed away 2 years ago, but her recipes live on and are passed to the next generation. Her special chiffon cake is baked for family gatherings. . . .I forgot to say that the sons and grandsons are great cooks/chefs. . .
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Chiffon cake….ohhhh, chiffon cake. Do you share the recipe? I don’t think I’ve ever had a chiffon cake, but just by the sound of it, I know I’d love it. Loving hugs to your family and the continuation of your mom’s chiffon cake tradition.
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Absolutely love to share recipes. Chiffon cakes are a tad labor intensive but oh so good to eat, either plain or gussied up with fresh fruit and/or ice cream!
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This was so sweet (literally and even figuratively). A mother’s love shining through from her kitchen creations. – Marty
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You have a way with words, Marty. I love “a mother’s love shining through from her kitchen creations.” In the past, a person’s baking prowess was taken for granted. These days, someone who takes the time to bake gets extra credit. 🙂
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Nothing like a mom’s or grandmother’s love… Such a poignant and at the same time sweet story as their love lives on! ❤
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Recipes are a wonderful way to feel the presence of someone who is no longer “there’ in body or spirit. Thanks, Bette. xo
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Reminiscing and still making memories… When my sister arrived from Texas for a visit, we celebrated her arrival with Mama’s (recipe) shortbread cookies. Passed the recipe along to my you! youngest daughter that day! ❤
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I love your memories and traditions, Bette. And to share them with a sister and a daughter – what a gift. ❤
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What a moving story about a mother who loved her family. I love how you’ve carried down the tradition in the family and beyond. Lovely tribute. My mom baked cakes and cookies, but was known for her strawberry Rhubarb pie — my favorite for my birthday.
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How special that your mom was a pie maker as well as cakes and cookies. My dad begged for strawberry-Rhubarb pie, but in little southern NJ at the time, no one bothered with Rhubarb. What a lovely baking gift from your mom.
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What a wonderful tradition your mother started for your family. My mother is an awesome baker, as is my son. Me? Not so much. In fact, when my son was in Kindergarten, he returned home one day with his eyes as wide as saucers. “Did you know that you could make cookies in an oven?”
I was totally busted!!
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When I read your comment here I burst out laughing. What a story about your son learning “where cookies come from.” Hysterical. Sounds like he has taken up the mantle of baker from his grandmother. 🙂
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Aw. Delicious, home-made cakes and wonderful memories. I’m always amazed by the special things moms do for their kids.
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So many little and big things that keep a mom’s love in a child’s heart all her/his life. ❤
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It’s so hard to watch someone you love slowly slip away while they are still there. I’m glad she has given you some good memories and I’m sure she knows you appreciate her on a soul level. That’s a very dedicated mother. It’s a wonderful thing to pass on to the grandchildren 😉
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It’s said that being with a loved one with Alzheimer’s/dementia is a slow painful goodbye, and it’s the truth. A horrible illness that maybe in our grandchildren’s time a cure will be found. Thank you for your empathy – I agree with you about the “soul level.” ❤
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Pretty amazing that your mom didn’t like desserts or eat cakes and yet she baked one for you both every single Friday! Perhaps she enjoyed the process of baking and the joy of her children eating the cake each week ~ a family ritual. Interesting how that family tradition has endured and been passed down, and what lucky grandkids they are to receive your fresh baked goodies at their front door!! (Viet Nam is not THAT much further than San Francisco from you, is it?) Hahah 🙂
I tried to bake cakes for my sons when they were little, and they were kind of a hit and miss affair. Then I got smart, or so I thought, and found a really superb bakery that made wonderful chocolate cakes and carrot cakes. Now I think perhaps I should have worked at it a bit more…..
Peta
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Finding a “superb bakery” is an act of love – I’m sure your kids totally appreciated it! You actually did an act even better, teaching your children about healthy nutrition and eating their vegetables. xo
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My mother showed love with her cooking as well. We clashed like chalk and cheese, but she taught me about good food, how to make it and how to eat it with friends and family. It’s a tradition the Offspring and I continue, with love.
-hugs-
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Thank goodness you and your mom had the act of cooking and baking to sweeten up the chalk and cheese. So glad you have the tradition continuing with your loved ones. ❤
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Yeah, it’s odd the things that become ‘glue’ in a relationship. 🙂
-hugs-
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Dang! This gave me a lot of memories of my childhood. My mom also disliked sweets and hated baking. YET yet she often made a vanilla cake/chocolate frosting OR chocolate cake/vanilla frosting cake. One time I requested vanilla cake/vanilla frosting and she just looked at me and said “no” because my sister and dad would never go for it.
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Aw, Mike. If you lived closer I’d make you a vanilla cake/vanilla frosting cake. I make one of those for the Fam and it’s acceptable because I dribble rich dark chocolate on the top. 🙂 Cheers to your mom for keeping you and your sis happy with childhood cakes.
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What a fun tradition!
It’s Friday . . . cake day!
My mom was a wonderful baker (and sweet eater). So are my sister and both sisters-in-law. Not me. I don’t have the baking gene.
Sorry that you mom is slipping away, memory by memory. It makes for a long good-bye. I was over-joyed on days when my “real mom” reappeared for a few brief moments.
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In many ways I envy your lack of needing/liking sweets. Sure would make life easier (I wouldn’t have to ‘work off’ the cookies every day). 🙂
Yes, I’ve experienced those short minutes of awareness from my mom- they are treasured more than gold or jewels.
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That is precious. Homemade cakes are so much better.
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Don’t tell anyone, but I don’t eat store-bought (or even bakery) cookies/cakes anymore. Just too far from the “real thing.”
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What marvelous memories, Pam. It would have been another thing entirely if your mom had both enjoyed baking, but also enjoyed the sweets! To understand that she bakes purely for you the joy of pleasing you and your brother is tender and so dear! As you slowly lose her to the limits of what she can recall it’s just tremendous to know that she has created such a wonderful legacy with the “gift of cakes!” I wish I’d done something with this regularity with my own children. It’s fabulous!
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I’m sure you have your own traditions that you’ve experienced with your kids over the years, Debra. Kids don’t forget these ‘little’ things, even as adults. Maybe PARTICULARLY when they are adults! xo
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What a wonderful – and tasty – tradition that is being handed down, Pam. Unbelievable that your mom never ate any of her own creations!
I did not grow up with cakes, home-baked or other. In Belgium, when I grew up, moms would bake waffles in a waffle iron (my grandma did this) or make crepes, especially on birthday parties. Other families might bake cakes, but our bakeries have a wide assortment of incredible cakes in Belgium. We call them “taarten” and they are very different than here. None of that colorful bright or frosted stuff from the States. 🙂
Interestingly – and this is something that never fails to amaze my husband – my parents never had an oven (by choice), so I didn’t grow up with any baked goods, for desert or dinner.
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NEVER HAD AN OVEN ? And by choice? That is amazing and hard to fathom. But I guess if you lived in Belgium (famous for its chocolate and cakes) an oven was not a necessity. I hope someday I visit Belgium and experience a “taarten.” I have a feeling I’ll love it! I can’t tolerate the store-bought cakes with pink/blue/purple frosting made out of shortening. UGH. I guess I’m spoiled, thanks to my mom.
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There are so many ways to show love! And a cake strikes me as a very good way….
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Agreed Ann (with a smile). A cake is an excellent way to show love. ❤
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What a wonderful post, there is nothing nicer than home made cakes and biscuits/cookies.. And I think I must take after my grandma… She was a baker of bread more than cakes.. Over last Winter I was baking cakes, muffins and pies, crumbles and puds, so much so hubby and I put a few pounds on. So over the Summer I thought less baking, lol…
But only a couple of weeks ago I made a ginger cake, and this week hubby asked what cake I was going to bake.. 🙂
Its wonderful to show love through our appetites and home baking.. And I hope I am passing that skill onto my eight year old granddaughter who last week when i asked her what she wanted to do when she visited for the day..
The first thing she said, ‘Can we Bake grandma?’ We made scones with raisins in them.
She took half of them home.. 🙂
Loved reading about the love your Mum has passed on to you ❤
Much love Pam… ❤
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I’m not surprised that you and I share a love of baking, Sue. I didn’t mention this in my post, but for me, there is something spiritual (if that’s the right word) in measuring and combining ingredients and mixing them into one lump and doling it into a baking pan and then smelling the aroma and pulling out of the oven an amazing pan of . . . love.
I can visualize you and your granddaughter enjoying this act together. You are making lifelong memories. ❤
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I know what you mean Pam. Baking is theroputic calming and satisfying. Alchemy almost 😀💚
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Love this. Mom always made our birthday cakes too, and it was one of the many, many things I missed when Alzheimer’s disease took her from us at the age of 75.
On the other hand, my mother-in-law just turned 90, and although we gave her a huge Costco cake, tons of food and a birthday party with well over 70 guests, she felt she had to make a dark fruitcake with white icing for the event as well. She is an amazing woman and I hope my husband has inherited her genes for longevity!
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I’m so sorry you lost your mom at such a young age. I certainly know the pain of what you went through. Blessings to your mom-in-law. My guess is that even though you supplied all that wondrous food/dessert for her birthday, she had to show HER joy through her fruitcake. xoxoxox
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Thank you, Pam. It is indeed a painful ordeal for the entire family. As for my mother-in-law and her cake, I think you are exactly right. 😊
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I used to bake. I haven’t in a long time. I really need to get back into that but when my daughter en fam move out. When I have more time. When I get the drawer front fixed. when when when….
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What a beautiful post, Pam. It made me cry. Actually, I’m sobbing. Love shows itself in so many unexpected ways and how wonderful when we notice its presence. And pass it down through the generations. ❤
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Awwww, Diana. I’m crying now thinking of you crying.. We are going through similar struggles with our parent(s) now. It hurts, but knowing the love is there, in cakes and memories and smiles, that heals. ❤
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I’ve recovered. Sniffle, sniffle. Yeah, it’s not easy. Things here have stabilized quite a bit. Now to make it last for a little bit. 🙂
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Good luck with that. I’ve found that just when things “calm down a bit,” all hell breaks loose. (haha, I’m so helpful, right?)
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I kind of know that’s going to happen. 🙂 It’s inevitable.
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That’s why grandmas are so special ❤
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❤
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A wonderful post, Pam, full of beautiful memories. I love that you all bake in your family. The skills need to be retained. There is nothing like home made goods.
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As a baker, you KNOW the love it takes to make a great concoction. One of the reasons I love seeing your new creations on your blog/Instagram. 🙂
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❤ for your memories, Pam. ❤ My Mum still bakes and my friends' love it and place orders with hope in their eyes. ❤
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Awww, so sweet of your Mum to share her talents with baked goods. I hope to share my cakes/cookies with friends and family through my ’90s, if not beyond! 🙂 xo
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I am sure you will, lovely Pam. ❤
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It’s evident in the way the tradition has continued down the family line just how much it meant to you.
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Thanks, Andrea. Memories definitely stay alive through the aroma of sweetness and love. ❤
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As Mom’s, we just “do” for our kids. Some random and some turn into traditions. I think it will be interesting for us to find out later what that thing that we did meant to them. My grandsons now are starting to love traditions. Bless your Mom for giving you the cake tradition, even when it wasn’t the thing she liked…Tell her anyway Pam, how much those cakes meant to her.
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I remember when I was younger (much younger) and I thought traditions were passé. Now, I realize they are important for generations to come.
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Pam, Love is shown in so many ways … and I’m moved now the cake baking tradition continues through your daughter! Yeah, to you for sending cookies to your son’s children; one can imagine how their faces light up with joy. In our house my mother’s cakes are a treasure, a must for birthdays and often throughout the months! Each year she asks wouldn’t we prefer one from a bakery – a resounding NO is the immediate reply. As it was just my birthday we are still enjoying her best yet … is it too wicked to have a slice for breakfast?😀🎂
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I’m glowing in joy for your mom – and that her cakes are so appreciated. My daughter-in-law is not one to comment on my baking or to give praise, but last week she texted me that Schuyler (her oldest at 10, my grandson) after receiving my cookies in the mail, asked her: “Why do Grammy Pammy’s cookies always taste so GOOD?” And my daughter-in-law told him: “Because she uses magic and mixes that with a huge deal of love.” WOW. I was blown away. ❤
Happy Birthday, a little late! xo
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My Mom was not the most confident cook/baker, yet she clipped recipes and always baked for us from scratch – all kinds of things – cookies, cakes, brownies, rolled whipped cream “logs”, occasionally pies. I couldn’t agree with you more, Pam – Thanks, Mom.
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Awwww, baking blessings to your mom. Wow, even rolled whipped cream logs? I remember them, and they looked intimidating to make. I haven’t tried them yet. Have you?
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Thanks, Pam. I’ve never made one of those, but I have often thought about making a Buche de Noel. It’s probably just as well I don’t have the time nowadays, because it really looks like a challenge and very time-consuming. But sooooooo pretty!
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Welllll, I may think about that challenge as the holidays get closer. Or, maybe not. ;-0 🙂
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Such a beautiful memory and a lovely story. Blessings to your mom. It really is the little things that truly matter 😊
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Yes, it is. The little things are the BIGGEST. ❤
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This is so beautiful and sweet. I can’t bake to save my life though I do wish I can bake, my cookies just bounces off the wall!
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Awww. I think it takes practice, Kally. I remember my first time baking cookies. I put the butter in the oven to “soften” (big mistake) and forgot about it until the dish exploded. In the oven. I was 17. Good lesson. ;-0 🙂
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Hahaha. And now you have come so far!
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My grandma taught me so much just in her simple everyday actions. She loved to bake also. Thank you for sharing this. The older generations were not comfortable voicing love, but showed it well. I wrote a post on my blog about my remarkable grandmother as well.
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Thanks for finding my post about my mom and about grandmothering – I guess that’s the glory of tags! I’ve just visited your beautiful blog and am following. You grandmother was an amazing woman/mom/grandmom.
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