A picture of my grandmother, my father, two aunts and a great aunt, out picking berries in the woods in Ontario.
Will they make jam or jelly, and will they save enough to make pies?
My grandmother was a great pie maker, - she operated out of a tiny pantry with a pull down table for baking, but the pies and cookies and doughnuts she produced were heavenly.
I was making apple pies the other day, and as I invariably do, I thought about her as I mixed the pastry, - how amused she was that I used a pastry cutter for incorporating the lard into the flour. I still use a cutter, but I also understand the ease and the good feeling of sifting the flour and the lard through one's fingers.
I really treasure this picture of my grandmother, - she has such a lovely, happy glint in her eye.
What a pleasant photo of your grandmother and her family. I love that they're all wearing hats!
ReplyDeleteI use 2 knives to cut the shortening into the flour. Maybe I'll try using my hands next time.
My mother, an excellent pastry cook, always used her hands to mix in the fat and I have followed suit. Our hands were always cold which seemingly suits pastry making.
ReplyDeleteI love these old photos and don't they reproduce well?
I wish we had all the information from these blogs when doing geography (and history) at school. It makes it all so much more meaningful.
Everyone looks fabulous and they have picked a LOT of berries. I have been many places in Ontario and have never found that many berries. I wonder if they are blueberries? If they are currants or elderberries it would be easier to find large amounts.
ReplyDeleteRuth - This picture was taken over one hundred years ago, and there was probably a lot more land which was not cultivated, and where berries would grow, - it would have been taken in the country around Chesterville.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful memory. How nice to be able to reminise every time you bake.
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