I would like to introduce you to someone very special to me. This person has had the most influence on my life of all family and friends combined. My Grammie Evelyn.

She is advanced in age now, but when I was growing up she was a formidable woman. She filled a room, when she talked, you listened and I wanted to be just like her. 

My Grammie was a homemaker extraordinaire, her house was always spotless, she was a marvelous cook and she always had something baking in the oven. When something was cooking that smelled delicious, she called it “Happy Home Smells”. Grammie kept a garden in her backyard, she worked a part time job to help make ends meet and she was always in church on Sunday.  She was sweet and strong and she had a faith that intrigued me.

Grammie was a no nonsense woman. She told me a story once that I never forgot. She said that she had asked my grandfather, to wash the windows one spring. She asked several times to no avail. One day, she set a bucket of rocks on the stoop, so that grandpa had to step over it, to get into the house. When he came home from work, of course he asked what the rocks were for; she said 2 words, “the windows”. He had all the windows clean before dinner was ready.  That was Grammie for you.

     I will never forget her teaching me to wash dishes. The water was so hot it brought tears to my eyes. Grammie said that if the water didn’t burn your hands, the dishes weren’t clean. She also said that if the dishwater is dirty when you are done, so are the dishes (Meaning rinse them thoroughly before you put them in the dish water.) Grammie may sound like a very serious woman, and she was, she was also the sweetest, most loving and nurturing woman I have ever known. Her hugs made the world a sweet place indeed.  When you had Grammies hugs and one of her delicious meals (including dessert of course), in your stomach, all was well with the world.

After we moved from Illinois to Arizona, my Grammie would visit us on occasion. This always meant Duncan Donuts and Carmel Pull-aparts.  Carmel pull-aparts fresh from the oven are still one of my favorite treats. I often make them for Holiday breakfasts or anytime I want to share that same feeling I got from Grammie , with my children, love.

Carmel Pull-aparts

½ cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 large package vanilla pudding mix (not instant)

½ teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons milk

2 loaves frozen bread dough (like Bridgeford)(thawed)

Directions:  Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pull 1 loaf of bread apart into small pieces.  Toss scatter-like, into a glass 9×13 casserole dish. Heat remaining ingredients in a small saucepan until bubbly and sugar has dissolved. Pour the sugar mixture evenly over the dough in casserole dish. Tear up the second loaf. Put pieces into empty spaces in casserole dish. Set aside and let rise until doubled. Bake for 20-25 minutes in a 400 degree oven. (cover  the top with foil near the end of cooking if the tops get too brown.) Cool for 5 minutes(don’t wait too long, it will stick) and turnout onto tray covered with foil. Eat while warm.