pink tea

 I wish I had a chance to talk to Minkie

    I am not even sure how to spell her name.  She taught me how to drink pink tea.  Out of a saucer.  She was one of the gentlest, kindest, sweetest people in the world.

    She spoke with a think Scottish accent, which at times was a little hard to understand for a little kid.  But I know she loved all of us.

    Every Christmas Minkie would make Scottish short bread.  She would bake it in a round pan and flute the edges with a fork.  A perfect amount of sugar graced the top of her golden brown shortbread.  She always wrapped it in aluminum foil with a red ribbon around it.  The shortbread was crisp, sweet, and irresistible.

    Maybe that is why one year I ate the family gift by myself.  I started with a little bite...then another.... and another and by the time I knew it, the whole thing was gone.

    I did not eat it at one time, but over a period of 2 or 3 days.  I do know noone else in the house had a chance to partake.

    Every Kohler household got one, if I remember correctly.

    After Jackie and I got married and moved away, I lost touch with Minkie, who was my Uncle Jim's mother.  

    She was still making shortbread, even though she had to be in her 90s, or mid to upper 80s at least.

    For years I tried to make shortbread as good as hers, but never could.  She did not use a recipe and when she died, she took that knowledge with her.

    One year a student gave me some shortbread she made.  It knocked my socks off!  It was just as good as Minkie's!

    So I asked for the recipe and now at Christmas I make Mae's Shortbread.  I think it is ironic that both people have an M for their first name, M as is MMMMMMMM good!

    This is my shortbread week.  

    When I make it my mind will flash back to Minkie, pink tea, Christmas with my now long dead relatives, and I will rue missing the chance I had to talk to her about her life and her shortbread.

Peace and Love

PS......Minkie called it pink tea, but it was actually just regular tea with sugar and a healthy dose of milk.  If it was freshly brewed and hot, she would pour it into a saucer, blow on it to cool it, and then drink it from the saucer.  Just so you know.