One More Please Slice!

The smell of fresh coffee woke me up. Coffee ready so early in the morning! What am I saying? Of course, there is coffee! she has been up for a couple of hours now, I am late by her standards. The sunlight coming through the window and the singing of the birds reminded me that I was home, it was peaceful, nothing like the city mornings rushed and chaotic; no not here, not this week. It was finally time to refresh, to get back to basics, and coffee was the first step. I got up and made my way over to the kitchen where I was greeted with a unison of good mornings and was handed a large steaming hot cup of coffee and with it a homemade muffin. Definitely not the city, this was cozy and full of love.

Carmen inhaled deeply and turned to her grandmother, who was of course busy getting ready to begin dinner plans and she gave her a big, good morning hug. It never changed; it was the warmest feeling to be here to be part of this wonderful woman’s family. Carmen was always mesmerized by the energy and hunger for life that her grandmother had. It sometimes made Carmen feel a bit shy to know she slept in every time she was here. But grandma always allowed it. She knew that the city wore us all out, here we could replenish.

“Ok! Come on Carmen; let’s go, it's market day and we need to be there early if we want the best of everything. Finish your coffee so we can leave, the carriage is ready. Carmen finished her coffee and made her way back to her room to put on shoes and grab a sweater it was a bit chilly out it was only 7 am on Tuesday, the horses had been attached to the carriage that would get them to the market, it was a family affair. Everyone in the family went to market because it was a chance to buy all the food for the week as well as meeting old friends, the week always began like that, shopping and gathering at the town center to catch up with friends. It was a half-day affair, and later making the way home with all the purchases and gifts that had been received in town. Nowhere else could I call home because I only felt home here, and even though my family was now my husband and our 3 children, and we lived in the city we wanted to stay close to our roots.

We finally made our way to market street as soon as we came to the first stand, we were greeted by the neighbors who owned a vegetable farm and grandma had an agreement with them, trade vegies for baked goods, so they greeted each other and spoke of full baskets and 2 weeks wait, and other details, while I was given a jar of pickled peppers “take it home” she said, “it’s good for a month.” I thanked her for the gift and said goodbye, Grandma and I continued our trip down the shops, and along the way bought eggs, bread, tortillas, fruits and ordered some beef, chicken also some pork for the party. I was always mesmerized at how my grandmother could negotiate the supplies for her home and mainly made it as a trade, I could put pen to paper and close accounts but felt awkward trading. We made our way to the crafts shops and here I was in shop mode, handmade jewelry, clothes, even shoes. I loved the shoes; they were comfortable and so pretty. The vendors all knew my grandmother. She was born in this town in the early 1900s, 1907 to be exact, she learned all she knew by watching her own mother, and the other women in town. She married young and learned how to run a house, she raised seven children and then took to helping with the grandkids and still now with the great-grandkids, but we try not to overwhelm her, we all come to visit for a week five times a year and make sure we call often she is 83 years old, but still rocks life.

We continued to shop and made our way to the candy stands; oh yes! lots and lots of candy, here she bought all sorts of candy baskets for each one of us to take home, and finally, we made it back to the carriage it had a full load, some of the purchases would be delivered later in the day, once they were ready. We got back home, and it was time to make lunch, “light lunch” she said because dinner would be a full event with guests too.

We got busy; we all had a light lunch serve yourself style, and worked thru the afternoon, though it was busy it felt good to be working, preparing the house for all the guests, we were in celebration mode, it was her birthday in a week and three wedding anniversaries were coming up within a month. And though it was Tuesday it was ok to have a party, because here; life was lived in the moment, “we are here now, so celebrate!” she always says. The evening was set to begin; and in the kitchen, my grandma was in full baker’s mode, we were all usually kicked out once she began baking, it needs quiet and calm she would say of her cakes. She always told us of how she learned her baking skills from a Spanish lady when she was only a teen, and we were so blessed she learned, her cakes and pastries were the best in town, she told us that we would one day inherit her recipes, but for now, she was more than happy to bake for us.

I made my way up to my room to change and get ready, and as I walked past the grand room I felt like a child again, this house that had seen so much was home, peaceful, beautiful and the only place where we all came together, my siblings, their spouses, nieces, nephews, and our parents, their siblings too. My father grew up not too far from here, my husband grew up two towns away. This was home to all of us.

By sunset; the first guests were starting to arrive, and the cakes sat on a table across the entryway, it was my grandma’s way of saying “welcome to my home.” When everyone had arrived, we all sat at the tables that had been set in a circle we had a setting for 30 and needed to add a few more as more guests showed up, that was all good, my grandma loved having guests. We made it thru dinner, and it was time to get dessert: everyone charged to the table for a piece of grandma’s cake, she always set out 5 cakes vanilla, lemon, coffee, carrot and of course chocolate, which is her signature cake, and as we all know but like to be surprised, she always bakes more than one.

Chocolate cake, what better way to end a dinner. And the other cakes would be the to go packs for the guests, after dinner there was dancing and lots of warm conversations about what we were all up to. We would still be in town for a few days, but tonight the whole town came to dinner with grandma. I had the last slice of chocolate cake. And as I enjoyed it, I made a mental note to ask for a to go cake at the end of the week, she always made some; but this time I thought maybe she will let me in the kitchen to finally learn to make it just like her.

Our week was gone way to soon. Late mornings, delicious coffee, warm biscuits, and fresh air.

Sooner than we would have liked we were back at work. But the plans for the next visit were already in the works. Mother’s Day was coming. Grandma be ready here we come and this time I am staying in the kitchen I want that recipe, and another slice of your chocolate cake.