Thinking about my Mom

Somehow I can't think about cooking and baking without thinking about my Mom. My Mom, Zelma Opal Archey loved cook books and recipes. Her old cookbooks are bulging with clipped out recipes from magazines and newspapers. She was a very good cook - not fancy - more comfort foods. Always meals with the 4 basic food groups. Think baking was her real forte. Her pies, cakes and cookies made my Dad a very happy man. Always used lots of butter and real whip cream. My Dad is 94 and still going strong - so guess it didn't hurt him. Some folks are just lucky I guess.

When my Mom found a recipe she liked, it became her own and it is amazing how often we all say, Grandma's banana cake, Grandma's meat loaf, Grandma's macaroni salad, etc, etc. We will being saying that for years to come. Isn't that a nice legacy?


Her kitchen was her domain - so much so that when I got married and realized that I had a husband that wanted to eat 3 meals a day and expected me to prepare them - I was in deep trouble. Even tho I spend a great deal of time helping my Mom in the kitchen - she did the cooking - I did some chopping , set up and clean up. Needless to say I was soon asking lots of questions about cooking and begging her to send me her recipes. All of those recipes ended up in a cook book I made for all my kids and they are still all using them.

One of my former son-in-laws said that Grandma Archey was born to serve and think we all agreed with that. Whenever you came to visit, you always got your favorite foods. My oldest son, Eric loved her tapioca. She always whipped the eggs whites and folded them in making this wonderful light airy pudding with a hint of vanilla and lemon. She tripled the recipe so Eric would have enough.



Evan always got his favorite, Pistachio Surprise. Eddy his Peanut Blossom Cookies. Don't think Ethan had a favorite, just liked them all. The girls, Erin, Elin and Elie Jo, all loved her Chocolate Chip cookies, her Bon Bon's and banana cupcakes. She made sure she had them all waiting when we arrived.

There was always a huge dinner waiting for all of us when we arrived. All those heavenly smells greeted us at the door.

Think the amazing thing about her was, that most of her life she put up with terrible swollen feet and legs. I know they were very painful, but she would not let them keep her from doing what she loved to do.







One day my Dad brought home a beautiful domed glass cake dish and told Mom that he never wanted to see it empty. I never did.



After spending 55 Christmas's with my Mom and Dad, there came a time when she and Dad were not able to spend Christmas with all their grandkids anymore, so she baked and baked. Her whole huge dining room table would be filled with every kind of cookie and candies you could imagine. She worked for days and put together boxes for everyone of her grandkids and their families and mailed them. It was a huge project for she and Dad. They were both in their late 80's by then. But she would have it no other way.


For my 65th birthday, my mother baked me a birthday cake even tho we asked her not to, because we were going to celebrate the following weekend and my sister-in-law was going to bake me a cake. My Mom said that everyone should have a cake on their real birthday. She made her famous banana cake that she had been making for years. My Dad said it took her all day. When we went over to their house that evening she ask me to help her frost the cake, which I did. It was truly a very special cake and one I will never forget. It was the last thing my Mom ever baked and she passed away 6 weeks later. She was 88 years old. That was 5 year ago and I still think about her everyday and miss her so much - we all do. But we are still cooking her good food and we all think of her when we do!