Baking memories: Sweet treats remind us of loved ones | Erin’s Local Dish

By Erin Robertson

The holiday season is so often confused with commercialism, but really, it’s all about love. The love of a young mother for a child. Love so deep that a father would give a son to die upon a cross. The sweet love of a grandmother, toiling all day in the kitchen to make delicious, bite-sized desserts for the family gathering. The love in a grandfather’s joyous guffaw as he stands at the stove with his buttered hands elbow-deep in a huge pot of popcorn balls.

For me, reminders of these types of love are found everywhere. In my family, memories are stored in little tin containers with the Divinity, or in a collection of dishware dating back to the Depression. Warmth and comfort are synonymous with food, which is why so many heritage recipes come out of our cupboards during Christmastime.

Two such notable recipes are from my late grandmother, Rose Ellen Calton, and my late grandfather, Jack Robertson. Each was a sweet spirit, overflowing with love for their families and me, the only grandchild. They took me to the library, handcrafted a bow and arrow set for me during a summertime nap, fed me well and spoiled me rotten. From my Grandma Rosie, I received my joy for cooking and my penchant for clipping out magazine articles. From my Gampey, I got a vicious sweet tooth and a cleft chin.

They are always missed, but especially during the holidays. As with every lost loved one, the only thing we can do is honor them with the things that remind us of them the most, like candy and cookies.

Grandma Rosie’s Nightie Night Cookies

• 2 egg whites, stiffly beaten
• ¾ c. sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 c. chocolate chips
• 1 c. chopped nuts

“Add sugar slowly to egg whites while beating. Continue beating five minutes. Fold in vanilla, chips and nuts. Drop on foil lined pan. Put in preheated oven at 350 degrees and turn off heat. Do not open door until next morning or six hours. Do not peek. Makes six dozen small cookies.”

Grandma Rosie always created such an amazing spread for Christmas dinner. Before the grand meal, a variety of crackers, dips, and veggies were set out for munching, along with holiday cookies and candies, all homemade. Her Teatime Tassies – pecan pies in perfect miniature – were always a staple, along with these melt-in-your-mouth cookies. The recipe is easy, especially if you have a standing mixer, and the cookies set up overnight with virtually no baking time. The key to the Nightie Night Cookies is in the final step: the pans covered in little white dollops are placed in a heated oven, the heat is turned off, and they are not bothered until the morning. Grandma Rosie was adamant that there must be no peeking lest the heat escape and the egg whites collapse.

They are basically tiny meringues, interspersed with a helping of chopped chocolate and nuts. They can be mixed up quickly before bed and safely tucked away into a warm oven to be welcomed in the morning as a sweet snack, looking like a little snow bank.

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Peanut Butter Fudge

• 2 c. sugar
• 2/3 c. milk
• 4 Tbsp. peanut butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• Dash of salt
• 1 c. nuts (optional)

“Cook milk and sugar until ‘soft ball’ stage. Add peanut butter, vanilla, salt and nuts. Beat until gloss is gone, then pour into buttered dish and cut in squares. May add 1/3 c. white syrup and 1 Tbsp. butter at time of adding sugar and milk. (Makes it richer!)”

[The ‘soft ball’ stage is marked on most candy thermometers, and it is at about 240 degrees, whereas the ‘hard ball’ stage is at 300 degrees. The line is fine, so be careful with your heat.]

I remember standing on a chair in my grandparents’ kitchen next to my Gampey as he made fudge. He was an expert, stirring the candy calmly until the time came to beat it into dull, smooth submission. He never used a candy thermometer, but rather had a few un-technological tricks to get his timing right. I thought I remembered all of the subtle nuances when I started to make the fudge, but it has been many years since I last cooked this candy. Needless to say, I cooked the first batch too long and the sugar caramelized, making more of peanut butter cement than anything edible.

I gave into technology and used a candy thermometer on the second batch, but still cooked the fudge for too long. I used this failure to propel me forward into success with the third and final batch, where the fudge turned out to taste just like the fruits of my Gampey’s labor. What I learned was this:

It is not necessary to keep the sugar and water mixture on the heat until the thermometer reads on the exact mark of the desired temperature. To ensure that the mixture is not overcooked, remove from heat a little early; the hot pan will cook the candy even after the pot is moved to a cool burner.

Combine the peanut butter, vanilla extract and salt in a small bowl before the cooking process begins. This will make the final mixing process much quicker and more efficient.

Adding the butter and the white syrup makes the fudge smoother. And richer. Plus, they add more sugar, and when is that ever wrong?

During the course of these baking adventures, I burned myself, dirtied countless towels and dishes, ate far too many chocolate chips, smeared peanut butter all over my mother’s kitchen, and entered many a Facebook status update about that scoundrel fudge. But in every recipe attempt or dollop of “dough” on a cookie sheet, I had a sense of warmth in my heart. Through these recipes, the legacies of my Grandma Rosie and my Gampey have been kept alive. I like to think that they were looking down on me with pride, love, and maybe even a little bit of hunger.

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