I wanted to share some of my fond memories of both my grandmothers and also my mother while I was growing up. During the 1950's and early 1960's, a girl growing up needed to know certain things such as cooking, sewing, and general homemaking. This knowledge was accepted back then because it was a woman's role to get married, take care of the house and have children. If a woman worked outside the house, it wasn't career orientated but to keep a woman occupied until she got married and had children. Back then, careers weren't an option in my family.
I remember my mother getting both myself and my sister involved in 4-H cooking and sewing clubs during our growing up years. I have to toot my own horn because I won several blue ribbons in cooking and sewing plus actually had a chance to go to the State Fair with both my cooking and sewing. By the time I was 12, I knew how to make bread, muffins, cookies and cakes. There were some mornings, I'd get up early and make muffins for breakfast so the family could have something fresh and hot. Our family also got into the habbit of making chocolate cake every Saturday along with the fresh Zwiebach. This helped to boost my confidence and the family came to expect me to bake on the weekends.
Both my grandmothers and mother helped me to learn along the way. Grandma Thiessen helped me with the housekeeping part, Grandma Reimer helped me with cooking and baking, and my mother was the rock that I leaned on when I made a mistake and didn't know how to correct the mistake. I got to the point where I could figure out how to fix things that normally would flop or go wrong. I used this philosophy in sharing with my children that even if you make a mistake, you can recover and make a positive. Even in food.
Back then, my grandmothers and mother had "special" drawers designated for flour, and sugar. So that when you went to use the ingredient, all you had to do was scoop out the ingredient from the drawer and use it.
Okay, so I have to admit since I'm now making cookies for the gun club, I've reverted back to what my grandmothers and mother used in the kitchen. Gone are the cannisters and I now have my flour and sugar in a drawer ready to use. This way, I can purchase large quantities of flour and sugar and not have to go to the store so often.
Now you might think all the older women in the family did was teach me how to cook, sew and clean. This statement is definitely wrong because they taught me so much more like how to solve problems, and their unconditional love was a lesson in itself. My talents in the kitchen are a great tribute to the women I grew up with, but the love they shared with me meant more than all the cooking, cleaning, and sewing in the world.
So how do I segway into a recipe? The recipe I'm sharing is one coming from one of my huge failures. I remember crying because my cake didn't come out of the pan like it should have and I wouldn't be able to frost it. My mom came to the rescue and helped me make a trifle. So next time you screw up on making something, make a trifle. You can make a trifle out of brownies, cookies, or anything that is baked. One of my favorite is Angle Food cake.
Who would have thought you can make something good out of a failure! Thanks Mom, Grandma Thiessen and Grandma Reimer for setting such great examples of loving Christian women.
Chocolate Trifle
1 chocolate cake or cake of any kind, already cooked
1 pint of whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 package of instant chocolate pudding or you can use vanilla pudding
2 cups cold milk
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup chopped nuts (use your favorite nut, such as filberts, walnuts or almonds)
1 large clear glass bowl
Whip the cream until soft peaks and then add the powdered sugar, and vanilla. Set aside. Also beat the 2 cups of milk with the instant pudding and set aside to set up.
Break up the cake into large bitesize pieces and place on the bottom of the clear glass bowl. Add a shallow layer of the whipped cream, then a layer of the coconut, and nuts. Add the next layer of instant pudding. Repeat this layer two more times ending with the instant pudding. Sprinkle the top with any remaining coconut and nuts. Chill until firm. To serve, use a large spoon and place it in a bowl. This is so yummy. You can switch it up and do the layers in any order and up with the whipped cream if you wish. This isn't set in stone so put your own twist on the recipe.
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