My youngest grandson Sam spoke to me on the phone last week. He said hi, his first spoken word to me.
I've talked to him lots of times on the phone, but he usually just grins at the sound of my voice, so I'm told, and makes baby noises. I like to think he recognizes my voice, but he's a year and a half old so that's kind of doubtful.
I usually babble on and on to him, using my grandma voice. You know the grandma voice. It's the slightly higher-pitched voice, often spoken in third-person, that normally articulate women reserve for small children and adorable puppies.
Last week, though, he actually said hi to me, about five times, one right after another. Then he lost interest and starting pushing buttons on the phone so his mama took it away from him. Conversations with toddlers, precious as they are, don't last too long.
My weekly phone conversations with my family back in Arkansas are standard Sunday evening happenings. I look forward to calling them all day, eager to catch up on Jake's week at school, Lee and Mary's work week, who's been sick and who's been over to play.
We talk about food, of course. Both Lee and Mary like to cook as much as I do, and they can both turn out a gourmet-quality meal. This week I was eager to tell them about my dinner the night before. I made Chicken-Fried Steak.
Now before some of you roll your eyes and think, how could she eat that stuff, let me just say in my defense that I don't eat like that very often. Maybe once a year. Sometimes a Southern girl just has to have a good ol' Southern meal, and chicken-fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, with peas and carrots thrown in to offset the grease, fills the bill quite nicely.
Ron said he could feel his arteries hardening with every bite, as he helped himself to seconds. It was sooo good and sooo worth it.
I got the recipe from January's issue of Southern Living magazine, one of my very favorite magazines. And in their defense, most of the recipes in the magazine were healthy recipes. With that notable one exception.
All that thinking about family got me in the mood for one of Ron's grandmother's recipes. Ron practically rhapsodizes over what he calls her Cherry Dope. I don't know where the dope part came from, but it's what she's always called it. It's Cherry Dessert as far as I can tell.
Truth be told, I've never made this recipe, but if Grandma says it's good, I'll take her word for it. It's simple enough and similar to other recipes I've made, so I'm going to vouch for it, taste untested, so to speak.
Since Cherry Dope sounds like something you might buy on a street corner, I'm renaming it Grandma's Cherry Dessert.
Grandma's Cherry Dessert
Crust
16 ounce package graham crackers, crushed
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Mix all the ingredients together in a medium bowl. Pat into the bottom of 9-inch x 13-inch baking pan.
Filling
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioner's sugar
8 ounces Cool Whip
1 can cherry pie filling
In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and confectioner's sugar with an electric mixer until creamy and smooth. Gently fold in Cool Whip until thoroughly incorporated. Spread on top of graham cracker crust. Spread cherry pie filling on top of cream cheese mixture. Chill for at least 4 hours.
I'm guessing it makes probably 10-12 servings
Sharon Vail lives in Powell Butte. She's never tasted any of Grandma Vail's recipes that she didn't love, and as soon as she gets around to it, she's going to make this one. Readers may contact her at svail3@netzero.net. "Cooking from the heart of Oregon." |
