Memory Monday

My quest to honor and remember fond things about my mother in alphabetical order continues. Today is the letter I.

Ice skating. I grew up in the little town of Marion, in the snow belt. Ice skating there was very popular. Outside on the farm ponds, city park ponds and so forth. We skated as a family usually on Sunday and when we'd get home cold and tired; Mom would make hot chocolate and pop corn. Ahhhhhhhh I can taste it now. Great fun. There was a nice old style hardware store where you could trade your skates in and get new-used ones. This was great for growing feet. I was super excited when Mom helped me clean up an old pair that were cheap, polished them nice and white...then we made purple pom pom's to decorate them. There were better than new.

Isaly's Sugar Cookies.......though most people who know of Isaly's (us mid-westerners) will immediately think of ice cream and chipped chopped ham, I think of sugar cookies. Grandma Isaly made them from a secret family recipe. They melted in your mouth much like a shortbread cookie. Mom tried to get her to give her the recipe...unsuccessfully. But, I remember her trying. Grandma was getting up in years and someone else in the family was beginning to make them; they weren't as good. Isaly's actually began in my small town of Marion; though I didn't know that at the time. I was searching for a picture to go with this post and found the history of this Swiss Immigrant Family. To this day when I have a sugar cookie I think of Mom trying to get Isaly's recipe and wishing someone out there had it. No sugar cookie since has been as good.

**The white Lilly is about 5.5 inches across, very large for a Lilly and much larger than it was last year. I transplanted these varieties and they seem to like their new location. They're tall, so hubby got me some nice plant supports for them. They're in the far corner of my back yard, visible from my kitchen window. So pretty.

H Memory Here