Save Room For Dessert

The older I get, the more I realize that I only have so much control over my future. Try as I might to not have it happen, I know I am adopting many habits of my Mom and my Dad. My husband is quick to recognize this evolution, just as I was able to see how my own parents each grew to become more and more like their own mother or father. To this day, my Mom occasionally calls my Dad, “Catherine”, for example. It’s a reference to his mother, my Grammy, who I was blessed to have in my life for 17 years.

My grandmother Catherine loved eating sweets and always made room for dessert, even if that meant she would leave part of her healthy dinner on her plate. Like Grammy, my Dad too has a sweet tooth. Although he eats a well balanced diet, he looks forward to having a cookie or a piece of pie after his meal. I, too, have to have dessert most days. It’s hard for me to accept that the meal is over until I’ve had a little treat. This drives my husband crazy when we go out to eat in restaurants which is why my kids prefer to dine out with their Mom. What can I say? This habit of ours is genetic!

Homemade desserts are the best, although I would never refuse a couple of DoubleStuf oreos. But given the choice, there is nothing like a warm molasses cookie made from Mrs. Welch’s recipe or a tried-and-true Devil’s Food cupcake with a dollop of whipped cream and confectioner’s sugar! Enjoying baking as much as I do, my children have grown up having a regular supply of homemade sweets. Unless my schedule is very busy, I enjoy keeping the Tupperware container filled with cookies.

The other day I found myself preparing lunches in the morning as I regularly do, only on this day I had an extra one to fix as my college aged daughter, home on spring break, had elected to go to work from 7:00am until 4:00pm. That evening she told me how one of her coworkers had been quick to notice the dessert in her lunch, one of Mrs. Welch’s molasses cookies. She remarked to my daughter that she could tell this was an “old fashioned cookie”, and my daughter replied that yes, her Mom had made them. I have to admit, I felt rather satisfied over this little conversation.

There’s something quite loving about baking your family dessert. My Mom continues to bake sweets for my Dad knowing he has to have his dessert after each meal. Whether he’s channeling “Catherine” or not, he’s learned what I consider to be an important life lesson that I too have adopted and have passed down to my own children, much to my husband’s chagrin. I can’t help myself. Blame my Dad. Blame Catherine. But whatever you do, remember “Life is short. Eat dessert”.