Special Cookies for a Special Lady

Our family was lucky enough to celebrate the upcoming 95th Birthday of "Grandma Schall" this weekend.  She will officially turn 95 on November 20 but when your immediate family is close to 100 people it is important to celebrate when everyone can get together.  So, this weekend we gathered to wish her a Happy Birthday and eat lots of yummy pot luck offerings - truly a great day!

I first met Grandma Schall in the early 1980's when I started dating her grandson who is now my husband of over 20 years.   I was invited for a family gathering at her home.  I will never forget how there were so many people there that some of us ate our meal on her bed as all the seats, couches, tables and floor space was taken.  I could tell that didn't bother her in the least as she was genuinely happy to have her family home.  I remember thinking how hard she must have worked to get everything pulled together - it was nothing fancy but certainly made with love.  And...the desserts far outnumbered any of the other food groups offered!  

What I didn't realize at the time was that Grandma had been working with food her entire life.  Whether she grew it in her garden, canned it for her family or prepared it at the locally famous K&H Restaurant - she knew how to pull it together and cook for a crowd.  She worked at K&H from the day it opened in the 1960's until her mid-80's when she retired after 30+ years.  It is here that everyone knew her as "Blondie".  She also was an avid gardener.  She always had a huge garden (upwards of 150 tomato plants) until she went in the nursing home a few years ago.  She loved that garden and looked forward to working in it night and day.  She produced pounds and pounds of vegetables which she sold to local restaurants and happily canned, froze and shared with her 5 daughters, 23 grandchildren and 40 great-grandchildren.  Her days are much less busy now but I know how much she still loves home-grown and home-made food which is why the potluck dinner was a perfect way to celebrate her birthday.

I have always admired Grandma Schall's work ethic, her no-nonsense approach to life and her wonderful ability to add a swear word at just the right time.  Yes, she can tell a good story and when you least expect it....Bam! The perfect swear word is thrown in to make the story even more captivating!  In fact, as I was decorating the tray of cookies for her party I couldn't help but think that if she knew how much time I was spending on each cookie making sure the colors coordinated, the writing was precise and the dots were in just the right places that she would say, "Just slap on the d*** frosting and let's eat!"

So, here's to Grandma Schall...to her beautiful blue eyes, to her endearing spirit and her unending love and support of all things family.  Happy Birthday!!!