You asked for more photos – I found these two, of li’l me with each of my grandmas. These ladies are the inspiration for my other blog (you knew I had another one, didn’t you?), My Grandmas’ Recipes. I started it with the hope of preserving the best nuggets from Grandma Sara’s recipe box, but it’s turning into a collection of recipes for dishes I remember from my years in Pennsylvania.
Oh lookie, I’m a wee-little baby here! That’s my Grandma Losch, and she’s holding me in her kitchen. She had five babies and I’m the oldest of her youngest (my mom). I grew up only several miles from her home, and we visited often. There was one rule there: YOU MUST EAT. It didn’t matter if you had just eaten an entire meal, or that it was 3 in the afternoon. You walked in and there would be food, and dessert too. Or sometimes just dessert, but always, always with the delicious, comforting food.
There I am in the red shirt, sharing Grandma Sara’s lap with my little sister (and frequent commenter here) Betsy. Betsy and I were her first two grandchildren, the daughters of her oldest son. Her farm was less than three miles from ours, and my dad farmed in collaboration with his dad and others in the valley for many years.
We were so lucky to live close to our grandparents when we were kids. There was always a place to visit, cousins to play with (and vacation with), and good food to eat. I treasure my memories of those years and of the women who set such a fine example for me – not only in the kitchen, but in their whole lives.
Soup Is Not A Finger Food 
Aw, YAYYYYYYY for grandma pictures!!! Love it!
Great blog & fantastic pictures.
I know you had that hoity-toity purebred Weim named Jill as a kid, so you might not know that the hounds from the “other” side of the tracks got Grandma’s “dog food.”
I don’t know if it was their lower station in life that made her pick them as the recipients of her quality table scraps, but they weren’t complaining.
I probably shouldn’t confess this in a public forum, but sometimes what she called “dog food” was actually really good stuff! Grandma must have had an unreasonably high standard for her cooking, and if anything was less than perfect in her eyes, it was sent to the hounds at the creek.
Aunt Doll would show up with a plate of what Grandma considered a “less than perfect” cake or plate of cookies. FOR THE DOGS! Score!!
I love the way grandmothers make the family. Even when there isn’t a grandmother, there is a grandmother: the lap, the food, the endless love.
Grandparents (grandmothers in particular) are the best. You were indeed very fortunate to live so close to yours.
These are absolutely adorable and LOOK AT YOU – even in the baby photo you can still tell it’s you.
Love your sister’s expression in that last one. She has something up her sleeve, and you look like you can’t wait to get away.
Oh Meg, this is precious. Thank you so much. Julie, Grandma’s and Grandma Sara’s cooking was sooo good it was like a religious experience that brought tears to your eyes, but they both said things like “It needs a little salt” or something like that, while we were wolfing it down.
You were so blessed to have your grandparents so close in your life! I was the child of teenage parents, so we spent a lot of time with our grandparents. Like you I cherish those memories. when I used to tell my one grandmother what an impact she had on me – even though she was poorly educated, and broke, she taught me more about life and appreciation for most things that I enjoy now later in my life – she just gave me a shrug and say she just did what she knew to do! one regret in my adult life, much beyond my control, is the lack of grandparents in my childrens’ daily lives. My goal is to live to be an awesome grandparent! :)
CBW, I can tell you , with absolute neutrality, that Meg and her sister, Betsy, were the cutest little girls! (Not the only cute little girls in the world, maybe, but damn cute for sure!) My god, I was proud of them — still am!!!
Thank you all for the nice comments – you make me blush. Daisy, I think you’re right – it seems that someone fills the grandma role, somehow…
I do remember that Grandma L. was her own worst critic in the kitchen; along with her hammertoe, I inherited that trait. Lucky indeed were the hounds of Cocolamus Creek!
Julie, you may remember that our “hoity toity” Jill was a rescue dog. I remember mom telling about how the first few days she was at our house, she shied away when mom approached with food, as if she’d been beaten. But one day she greeted mom with a tail wag, and we knew we’d won her over. I think Jill got her fair share of scraps, though from our own kitchen (not Grandma’s).
There is simply nothing better than one’s grandma(s). Such a lovely tribute you’ve done here.