Joan, my mom’s cousin and a close family friend, was a great cook, and the sweet treats she made were ahhh-mazing. I remember from my childhood giant sweet rolls and braided pastries, and the aroma of cinnamon swirling about the small kitchen of her farmhouse. She was an arms-wide-open kind of woman, and one way she showed her love was through the foods she made. When Joan found out how much one of my friends loved a certain kind of dumpling, for example, she invited us to supper. I suspect most people she met didn’t stay strangers for long.

During a recent Life Stories class, the group was talking about holiday traditions and got on the topic of Christmas cookies. I have Joan’s recipes for Mexican wedding cookies and sugar cookies. One of the class participants said that just this past Christmas she got help from a neighbor to make German springerles — using Joan's recipe. "And they turned out pretty doggone good!"

How glad I am to know that another of Joan's recipes lives on.

#writing