Rick’s Grandma (and Her White Potato Pudding Recipe!)

When I began reading essays at Piedmont Community College in Yanceyville, North Carolina, I was struck by the happy place that grandparents, especially grandmothers, play in the lives of the students I meet.

Paper after paper recounts a grandma’s love.  Her energy. Her patience. Her whimsy. Her cooking!

So when my daughter Kath announced that my first grandchild was on the way, I began to wonder (and worry) a bit.

What sort of grandma will I be?  Will I earn someday a staring role in an essay?

A few weeks ago, Rick Stone brought in his paper. I’m  a writing tutor. I have the privilege of looking over essays before the instructor does, with his or her grading pen in hand.

Titled “My Adored Grandmother,” Rick’s essay tells of Anna Gertrude Foster, a ”short, little woman with intelligent eyes.”  Born in 1923, as the years went by Anna was “blessed with twelve children.”

Rick put down the paper we were studying and spoke: “When Grandma came into the room, even though she had a quiet voice, everyone stopped talking.”

All eyes and ears focused on Anna.

In time, her grandchildren numbered twenty-four, but when you were with Anna, “It was like you were her favorite grandchild. She treated you so special. Her beautiful smile made you feel loved.”

I’ll never be tiny like Rick’s grandma.

I’m far from soft-spoken.

I’ve got a rather crooked smile.

It was like you were her favorite grandchild. She treated you so special.

But that I can try my very best to do.

Even if I have twenty-four.

Guide me, Anna Gertrude Foster!

Photo Above:  Anna in the yard of her home many years ago.

 

Anna in later years.

Rick holding two drafts of his essay.

Anna could cook!  Rick’s favorite dish was her White Potato or Ash Pudding, served for dessert. He brought in a cupful, piping hot, for me to taste. Yum. Potato magic!

White Potato (or Ash) Pudding

3-4 medium potatoes peeled, boiled until done, and mashed

one stick butter or margarine

one 1/4 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 drops of lemon flavor or a teaspoon of lemon juice

1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except the eggs. Beat until smooth.

Beat eggs in a separate bowl. Add to the potato mixture and beat for one minute.

Put into an ovenproof dish and bake for 40-45 minutes or until the pudding is brown on top.

Serve warm.

Store leftover pudding in the refrigerator.

Note: You may need to set your oven on broil after forty minutes to get the pudding to brown.

Thanks to Rick’s mom, Anna Stone, for this recipe, and thanks to Rick for permission to quote from his essay and for the photos.

The Bouncing Ball of Menopause

Child psychologists say a baby learns

When you drop a bouncing ball,

The ball bounces back up.

Babies, smarter sometimes than grownups,

Know that life has its ups and downs,

And after the down, almost always comes an up!

Some of those ups and downs, if you’re a woman of a certain age, are the moody woes of menopause.

Telling yourself that the ups will come back really is helpful.

If this doesn’t work, try chocolate, a brisk walk, and more chocolate.

Frog: The Frog, name unknown to this grandma, was a baby shower gift of guest blogger Judy Ackley Brown, who writes in this post about rainy days and life.

Chocolate:  Make that a tiny bit, each time. Menopause pounds are a real downer.

Poet (of sorts) :  Me. I’ve been having fun keeping up with current thinking in child development from Kath,  creator of Baby Eats Real Food.

The baby: My grandson Mazen, usually upbeat!

Grandma Update: Boy Clothes

When Daughter Kath announced she was presenting us with a boy, I was delighted, especially since I didn’t give birth to any baby boys.

But then I remembered:

CLOTHES.

Moms and grandmas shake their heads:  ”Boy clothes just aren’t as fun.”

What’s the big deal though?  I’d seen, I thought, lots of cute boy outfits.

For a while, I didn’t venture into the baby sections. My own mom swears that in her day, it was  bad luck to buy baby clothes too soon. No way was I taking chances.  Besides, there would be plenty of time for shopping.

At Kath’s baby shower, I admired the t-shirts with trucks and cars, the striped onesies in blues and greens and reds, the hoodie with a  grinning monkey.  Darling!

Then I went to a shower for a baby girl.

Grandma-to-be  SHUT YOUR EYES!

The clothes were adorable.

Stroll into the girls’ section.  In seconds, you’ll know what I mean.

A month later, Mazen was born.

Whoopee Doo!  Let the baby boy shopping begin!

Maybe girl clothes are still cuter.

Just maybe.

But when you’re having the time of your life shopping for the baby boy of your heart, who cares!

Top Photo:  A bit of prep from Grammie.

Bottom photo: A snowman onesie.

Happy Sitting: An Idea for the New Year

On my first official babysitting gig

At Kath’s house a few months ago,

We played, sang, read,

And sang some more,

And then one of us

Cried, really cried.

Oh no!

Grandma KK, the other grandma,

Had visited in the morning

And lulled baby to sleep

With persistent rocking.

So that afternoon,

Mazen and I rocked

And rocked and rocked,

Until finally, he slept.

Tiny zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz’s.

I looked around for a

TV, a book, a magazine,

A computer, a phone.

Nothing in my reach.

Not daring to move,

I sat, still (almost) as a portrait

Until his mama came home

And snapped this picture.

Smile, Grandma!

That hour in the rocker

Was oh so grand.

So…

A New Year’s resolution:

More happy sitting in 2013

With or without baby.

No grumping

No to-do lists

No figuring out

No planning ahead

No worrying allowed.

Just sitting

Being happy.

(That’s why it’s called happy sitting.)

Will you join me?