Julie Carbaugh, GPC student

My Grandmother

            My grandmother was a very special person.  Whether she was in the kitchen cooking or in her back room quilting, she always made here family feel cherished and loved.  As she shared her food and quitls with her family and friends, she shared love. Although there were many happy memories of her as a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and friend, her greatest gift she left when she passed was her love for her family.

            Every time I would go to her house, I would walk in and the first thing I would see was my grandmother standing next to the stove in her kitchen cooking.  A lot of times she would be fixing my personal favorite, fried apple pies.  Even though she only made fried apple pies during the fall and winter, she would always offer a pie to anyone who came to visit.   Even today, a fond memory of her I have is walking into her house and smelling the dough frying in the big, iron skillet.  She would be standing next to the counter with a blue saucer in one hand and a butter knife in the other cutting the dough around the saucer off.  She would then fill one side of the dough with cooked, dried apple cinnamon filling, folding the dough over and mashing down the sides with a fork.  She would then walk over to the store and place the pie in the hot, sizzling skillet that was filled with oil and fry the pie until a golden brown.  My grandmother would then place the hot cooked pie on a paper towel to let the oil drain and place the pie on an individual plate for me to eat.  I would always put butter on my pie because I loved to see the butter ooze over the pie onto the plate dipping every bite into it.  After taking a fork from the silverware drawer, I would cut a small bite of pie carefully, not to flake the crust and slowly, take a lingering bite of the pie savoring the flavor of every bite.  It was the best fried apple pie that I had ever tasted.

            Another favorite pie she would make for our family and friends was her pecan pie.  She would pick up the pecans from beneath the four, big, thirty-five year old trees full of pecans in her backyard.  She would make two kinds of pecan pie, one with halves and the other with fine chopped nuts.  The crushed nuts were used for a pie specially made for my grandfather.   The reason she would make my grandfather a special pie was because he had false teeth.  He couldn’t eat the halved pecans because they would get stuck under his teeth and he loved pecan pie.  My grandmother would take a big bowl full of pecans and crush them with a rolling pin until they were a fine almost dust, pile of crumbs. For the other pie she would slowly roast the pecans in the oven with butter smeared all over them.  She would then mix the ingredients to together.   Even though it took her all day to make the pecan pies, she never complained.

            Quilting was another hobby my grandmother loved and enjoyed. She liked seeing the look on loved ones faces when she had made them a very special quilt hung them from the ceiling in her back room.  She would find quilting patterns and get different fabrics and cut out each piece for a quilt top.  For years, she made her children and grandchildren quilts for Christmas.  One of my favorite quilts she made me is in the double wedding ring pattern. Every even, perfect stitch was made by her with love for me.  She made all nine grandchildren each a special quilt for a wedding gift.  My grandmother took great pride in her quilts as she hand sewed around each individual shape of fabric.

            My grandmother was a very special individual who cherished and loved her family.  She made many memories and quilts to be shared with later generations.   Before her passing she told me that if I ever needed a hug from her and she was not there, wrap up in one of the homemade quilts she made and it would be her giving me a hug.  With her cooking, she passed down here recipes so when I cook my family’s favorite recipe, we would always think of her.  The most important thing she passed on was her love.

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