The Homemade Home

We have all been in a friend’s home where everything seemed so warm and inviting. These tend to be homes that are full of things made with love, grandma’s afghan over the back of the chair, flowers picked from one’s own garden, a hand embroidered table runner, and cookies that melt in your mouth. It has long been my desire to make my home inviting to all who come, and especially to my dear hubby when he steps in each evening after a hard day’s work. I have mourned over women who just don't understand why her husband barely gets home from work and is off again for a "guys night." Now, every guy needs the chance to go out with the guys and, well, be guys - shoot rabbits, ride mountain bikes, go on midnight snow hikes, and such.
But for the most part, a man should enjoy being in his home. It should be his place of rest, his sanctuary. It is said that “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” And it’s funny how we associate old fashioned hospitality with food! Every time I visited my great-grandmother’s home as a child she was quick to whip up a tray of fresh veggies from her garden, or left over pie with homemade ice cream, or even just a small plate of cookies (which I admit were not homemade, but oh how we looked forward to those strawberry wafer cookies!) The smells and tastes of the food she put out for us were unique to her home. It endeared us all the more to visiting Nana. Another home, one of a good friend, was almost always full of the aromas of “blondies” as she called the cocoa-less brownies, toasting honey granola, or, if you were fortunate enough to show up the week before Valentine’s Day, the most incredible raspberry preserve topped, vanilla iced cookies one could ever imagine! Even now, I cannot help but find a time to stop by in mid-February. What about your home? When you invite friends over so the children can have a play date or when a friend just “pops in” unexpectedly, what can they look forward to to tantalize their taste buds? I will admit that I am not much of a baker. Oh, I can bake when I need to, but I don’t have fresh chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven every other day, and a busy day cake to me is something that I ask hubby to pick up on the way home when I’ve had too much to do! But I have a recipe for Old Fashioned Tea Cake Cookies that is so quick and simple to whip up, that it is almost a crime not to stick a tray of them in the oven when I know someone is coming over, or even if I don’t know for that matter! I can mix it up while talking to my unexpected company and we can visit while the aroma of baking cookies permeates our senses. And everyone who comes to my home for dinner knows they will be treated to homemade bread served with hand-picked, homemade, wild chokecherry jelly and honey from my own bees.
Make your home a place your husband loves to come home to. A place where he is eager to walk through the front door, waiting to see what aromas tantalize him. Make it a place where anyone who walks through your door can expect your good hospitality! I don't mean that one is not hospitable if she does not have some delicious morsal waiting to be gobbled up every second of the day. But looking back, it really is food that makes my memories relate them to hospitality, even it was just that we got to collect the eggs at a friend's farm (she'd always let us take one home!) or pick fresh raspberries. Somehow for me it does always tie back to food. It's a wonder I'm not twice my size!
Happy Trails! Oh, and P.S.
Old Fashioned Tea Cake Cookies
1 egg1/3 c. sugar1/3 c. oil1 tsp. vanilla flavoring1 c. flour1 Tbs. baking powder½ tsp. salt
Beat the egg a little with a fork in a small bowl. Mix in the sugar, oil, and vanilla. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry and drop by the spoonful onto a buttered cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until the bottom edges of the cookies are just golden.