The Legacy of a Baker's Heart At 14 and full of me, I could be walking home from school on a snowy cold winter day, not dressed for the weather in only a skirt and knee highs, with a warm coat but no boots or a hat. On opening the door to our home I know it is Thursday with apple pie cooling on the counter, meatloaf in the oven, and a house that is toasty warm. I don’t need a calendar to tell me the day because I know where I am by the smells from the oven and the baking created the same each day, in every week. On Monday we will eat warm bread from the oven leaving leftover dough for the plump caramel rolls that on Tuesday morning, greet us like a warm hug. Wednesday, we arrive home for lunch to eat a quick sandwich or a bowl of soup and then dive into a warm fried donut. We know what Thursday brings, and that takes us to Friday when we eat whatever cookie her baker’s heart desires, or maybe the kitchen is closed. Oh, the weekend is special as we wake Saturday morning, to watch cartoons, then line up at the stove with plate in hand to receive our grandma pancake, the kiss of heaven. Sunday may be a day of rest but after church there is a beef roast or fried chicken with a mouthwatering desert that could be my favorite, German chocolate. Mom, the baker and so much more but while she had to cook, baking was in her soul, and it is how she showered us with love and her affection. Cinnamon, flour, sugar, and of course, oil, with fruit and berries, chocolate, and vanilla creating so many smells that I now appreciate and understand, filled With love, in her own language, of the heart.
I was motivated to write this poem through d’verse, a site for poetry with a different challenge every week. This week was to write a poem about a food memory in verse style. Writing it not only warmed my heart but made me hungry! I carried on the pie making as did my sister who also marvels with her cakes and cookies. And always a holiday memory for me is mom walking in the door bearing all the baked goods.
What are your food memories?
To The Unseen Stars
If I were a kitten I would have purred while curled up softly around my heart settled in a ray of sunshine in front of the windows facing west listening to the bird conversations that tickled my ears with the scent of newly warm Spring air after a day of rain. All that flowed out … Continue reading “To The Unseen Stars”
The Winds of Change
So began a week with a plan – one I thought to be quite unique. The winds they did blow as they have done all spring with change in the air, do I cling? I did not know my son would call sick with Covid, pain and all. I did not know my computer would … Continue reading “The Winds of Change”
A Bow To Brother Sun
This morning I faced the south with muted purple mountains of storm clouds. To the north, clear blue skies. To the west, puffs of violet grey on cool blue air. Finally, in the east, the sun climbed higher in each breathing moment. Turning to the east to Brother Sun, a welcome into my day with … Continue reading “A Bow To Brother Sun”
Janis Dehler 