Tiger Lilies and Cherry Cobblers.

Despite all the rain in New York over the last few weeks, I can feel summer's presence. I smell it in the air each evening. I can sense the humidity on my frizz-prone hair. And, I can see it in the flowers that beautify Riverside Park. I've noticed the tiger lilies especially this last week.

Two Junes ago Little Sister and I, along with a family friend, took a roadtrip from the West Coast to the East Coast. Our halfway point was our grandmother's farm in Oklahoma. We promised to only stay the night, but ended up staying six days. We drove around the farm on a red ATV, and fed the cattle, and took pictures in the creek, and slept in, and weeded the garden. I remember the tiger lilies blooming that week. Our grandmother loved them. She had planted dozens of them in a plot of land near her old hen house, and had waited eagerly for them to bloom. The colors did not disappoint.

I've been missing my grandmother this week. Missing her tiger lilies, and her mannerisms, her laugh when she thought something was really funny, and the way she used to excuse herself to use the bathroom by saying, "I've gots to go weewee." Man, and I really miss her cooking. Biscuits and gravy, bacon, chocolate pies, lemon meringue pies, fried okra... and especially her cherry cobbler.

I called my Mom a few days ago and asked her for the cherry cobbler recipe. I took down the information over the phone as we tried to decipher tricky parts of the recipe (Did she mean mix the coconut with the walnuts?) And, like my grandmother- a natural in the kitchen- she left no time specifications for cooking the cobbler ("Cook til golden brown"). I cooked that cobbler. I poured the pie filling and measured out the sugar and flour. Even now, years after learning how to cook in Grannie Jo's kitchen, I still measure out the dry ingredients with the dull edge of a knife. Carefully, carefully is what Grannie Jo used to say. And, I imagine her saying it to my father when he was a boy and she taught him how to sweep the corners of the store they owned. Carefully, carefully.

I miss her. This week, I would have given just about anything to sit down and enjoy that cherry cobbler together.



Grannie Jo's Cherry Cobbler

2 cans (21 oz. each) cherry pie filling
1 cup sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 egg
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)

Heat oven to 350. Pour pie filing into 9x12 inch pan. Mix sugar, flour, baking power, and egg. Mix butter- use the pie crust blender or a fork. Add 1/2 cup coconut and 1/2 cup chopped nuts (I use walnuts). Crumble mixture over filling. Cook until lightly brown (approximately 35 minutes). Serve with vanilla ice cream for a delicious summertime dessert.

Enjoy it!

Photos compliments of K. Kroon.