Proud

Growing up, my mamaw (grandmother) and I baked. This is what we enjoyed doing together. 

She was an amazing baker. She baked her daughters wedding cakes, and cookies galore for any event we had. She knew her stuff!

I grew up at their house. I was there almost every day after school. I was there on weekends. I loved them. My pap was a gardener, and a professional lottery player that cherished his Hostess treats (Twinkies).
My mamaw was a homemaker that genuinely cared for others. She was so hospitable. She hosted baby showers, wedding showers, family reunions, graduation parties, etc. If your family member is in the hospital, then she was bringing you a meal. She genuinely cared for the people she loved and even those she barely knew.


This past Thanksgiving, my mamaw was very sick. She was on hospice, and my heart was breaking to see her this way. She was a "do-er". It was the worst thing for her that she could not get up and cook at Thanksgiving.
So I brought the Turkey to her for approval.

She was one of my best friends. 

This day I sat down with her and we talked about what Christmas cookies I should bake. My cousin, Lydia, was to get married in March. We all had a certain cookie at our wedding we call "lady locks" that are a cream filled very delicate cookie. Mamaw and I made these together. She taught me how and it's one of my favorite cookies! 

She asked me then, knowing she likely would not make it, if I would make these lady locks for my cousins wedding. 

It was an emotional day making these cookies. 

My mamaw passed away December 16, 2013, and I kept my promise.

This past weekend was the wedding. The cookies were a hit. I made 11 dozen and they were gone in minutes. 

The cookies are hard to make. They are time consuming and the dough is very delicate. You cut the dough into thin strips, and wrap them around a round clothes pin to make them tubular. You bake them on the clothes pin and then let them cool. After cooling, you slide them off the clothes pin.

 This is the tricky part, because usually this is when they break. I laughed because there were a lot of times while I was making them that I sounded just like mamaw. I remember when they would break and she would let a "well, shit" under her breath and just look at me and smile. I definitely had a few "well, shit" moments that day. 

After they cool completely off the clothes pin, you make a cream filling and fill them with an icing decorating bag. 

Delicious. 

A friend of my aunt had my mamaw bake these a couple times for events at her house. At the wedding she came up to me and told me that mamaw would be proud. 

I started to tear up just thinking about it. 

I miss her so much.

 I hope she was looking down and proud that day. Not only for those cookies, but how beautiful Lydia's wedding was, and how beautiful of a bride she was. 

We all miss you and love you very much mamaw!