food, crochet, merriment
We do this awesome thing each year.
We gather and make the most adorable gingerbread houses–started for our family my my sweet daddy–Grampa to most of these folks–when I was only 16. Now, the very smell of the cooking honeycake will send many of us back to Grampa’s bake shop out back.
It’s a beautiful, sweet thing.
This, my friends is Honey cake. And to be honest, it’s still hard for me to see this dough…
and smell these spices…
and watch the process…
and see some of the old tools…
without looking around to see if my cute little Daddy isn’t somewhere close by.
April, probably more than anyone, watched and helped with the process right at grampa’s side. She knows all the little secrets to make the Honey cake now–so it’s wonderful to watch her do it.
It warms my heart and helps me when I’m missing him particularly at Christmastime.
When she’s finished, it looks the same. It smells the same. It tastes the same.
I get the feeling that he is very close with that twinkle in his eye…
smiling.
Thanks April for saving this for all of us.
I miss you Daddy.
Grampa Was the Gingerbread Man lyrics by Light Shine University
I’m going to start this by saying that my daddy was a pastry chef.
He passed away about 17 years ago and we’re still at this very moment, trying to figure out what to do with some of his things.
That’s always the case, right?
You want to keep a thing but there’s really no room for it.
Or you don’t want to get rid of a thing but have no idea what to do with it.
Well, that is exactly the dilemma I was faced with. So many of daddy’s cake things that were a billion years old and not really usable but still had so much of him in them. You know?
That’s when a lovely idea struck me.
My dad loved decorating cakes.
Not me.
I’d rather poke myself in the eye.
But give me a crochet hook any day and then we’ll talk.
What if there was a way to smush the best of both worlds into something clever and unique for my entire family?
Could I possibly doooo that?
Turns out, I can.
Everyone chose their favorite color and POOF!
A little bit of Grampa and a little bit…
of me.
See those pretty wind spinners? Me.
See those ancient piping tubes turned into sweet little bells?! Grampa.
April–our color expert–didn’t tell me what colors to use. She sent me a few swatches so it would be perfectly perfect.
Lyndi chose green and blue. Kind of Earth Day-ish colors.
Jillian has always loved pink and yellow. They were even her wedding colors.
Of course Dane, our very patriotic patriot chose red, white and blue.
And Rhen–the die hard Vikings fan picked purple and yellow. The green and black are a nod to Bob Marley, no doubt. Haha.
Merry Christmas my sweethearts.
With love from Mom…
and Grampa.
Note: The pattern I used for this is Anemos Wind Spinner by Brunaticality