Thursday, December 24, 1936

EDNA IS BUSY ALL DAY GETTING READY FOR CHRISTMAS

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Very busy baking and cleaning

all day. Worked until 12 o'clock

getting every thing ready.

Made moulded veg salad

and graham cracker desserts

to- night.

Morse put up tree to-night.

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Edna was busy all day getting ready for Christmas.

I spent a large portion of this day getting ready for Christmas, too.

At Thanksgiving time, Edna wrote about making a cranberry cake. Having never had cranberry cake I said it would be on my menu for Christmas dinner.

I didn't have Edna's recipe but found a few online. That prompted my dear friend Jenie to share her mother-in-law's recipe for cranberry cake with me.

I don't do a lot of baking anymore so I needed to make a quick trip to the store for a fresh can of baking powder and cake flour.

I made quite a mess in the kitchen mainly because of the sifting process. I don't own a sifter so I used a small colander to shake the ingredients through the holes and into the bowl.

The batter and the finished product look nice. I love the red of the cranberries. Tomorrow, the cake gets topped with a hot butter sauce. Yum. Hopefully it will be a tasty as it looks..

On this day in 1936, Edna also made a moulded vegetable salad.

If you've been reading along you know that I am not fond of Jell-O salads. When I first posted about this dislike, my friend Sallie Bancroft commented.

Memories! I also remember my grandmother's jello salads, which she passed down to my mother! You could not go to a family gathering or potluck without having 3 or 4 moulded or molded (which is correct?), jello salads! I never liked them either, until I met my sister-in-law. She made a "ribbon" jello salad with 4 different layers of jello and had a sour cream mixture in between each layer. I have made it over the years, but it takes time & patience. It's not only festive, but not too bad taste-wise either.

This morning, Sallie left a message on my phone saying she had something for me. I quickly rang her back and we arranged to meet downtown.

Sallie made a ribbon Jell-O salad and delivered four pieces to me. It is indeed beautiful and festive looking.

In her original comment, Sallie said it took time and patience to make. Today, she reaffirmed that was the indeed the case. It took her two days and several hours to complete the work of art. She also told how she had to create a leveling system in the refrigerator so the jello would not have a slope. Sallie explained, "I discovered my refrigerator is not level."

We haven't yet tasted our ribbon Jell-O salad. We will enjoy it with our dinner tomorrow.

Sallie gave me her recipe for ribbon Jell-O salad, too. It was written in pencil because Edna uses a pencil to write in her journal.

I have to confess that I almost cried when Sallie presented me with this gift. It was thoughtful and meaningful.

I am amazed by how my great grandmother's journal inspires connection.

Jenie and Sallie shared their recipes because of Edna.

Because of that, I got to spend some time in my great grandmother's presence this Christmas Eve.