A HOLIDAY VISIT WITH INA -- DAY 26

Your box came the day after Christmas and so prolonged it for us. I gathered them all around and all enjoyed the beautifully wrapped gifts and the verses on them. The holly decorations were so lovely, too. Shirley and Henry immediately began to further embellish the house with them. They took down the big etching over the mantel and hung the large cluster you made there and used the silvered branches over the other two. What a lot of time you must have spent on them and how beautiful they are. We reserved some and the ball sprays for our Sunday dinner decorations. We made a lovely centerpiece of holly and the sprays and candles and dined in state with the best cloth, dishes, etc., all by candle light. So don’t feel bad that yours didn’t get here for Christmas as we had more opportunity to enjoy it. As I said it just prolonged our festivities, really. Ina Dobson to her son Vance, Christmas 1936
 
Thank goodness for candles, greenery, poinsettias and such which help extend the season as the symbols of Christmas fade away. KW

A HOLIDAY VISIT WITH INA -- DAY 23

Aunt helped me out by dressing a fat young rooster and bringing it ready for the roaster. She also insisted on making pies since I had my hands full – mince and pumpkin. One of each would be plenty, I said, but no – here came two each and ginger cookies frosted. She’d tried a new recipe.

Ina Dobson, Christmas 1933

I walked in on the folks at 10:00 p.m. They were very surprised and pleased and I was glad to find everyone up. In fact Ruth was still baking and the kitchen was full of cookies, cake, and pies.

Vance, on arriving at his cousin’s house, Christmas 1942

I am not one to spend a lot of time in the kitchen baking lovely things. Perhaps I get that from my Grandma Ina. She barely speaks of Christmas baking, but baking for Christmas was a big deal with my mother. She loved candied fruit – yes, the cherries, the pineapple, and even the citron. Before Thanksgiving she would make her fruitcake – just enough batter to hold the fruit together. And she loved traditional cookies – shortbread and pressed spritz cookies, individually and meticulously decorated with candied red and green cherries. She stored these cookies in a roaster on our enclosed back porch where it was cool and included them on holiday trays prepared for neighbors and friends, served them on our dessert table during the holidays, and then enjoyed the leftovers (she made many cookies!) for a month or six weeks after Christmas. (I kid you not.) She thought her fruitcake and cookies were beautiful – and of course they were. I always thought, though, that they were labor-intensive and rich but rather flavorless.

 

I don’t make those traditional goodies, but I admit that I miss their presence during the holidays. I prefer to make cut-out cookies – sugar and gingerbread. When I was young, Mother also made cut-out cookies -- uniformly rolled and baked and again meticulously decorated. You should see mine – too thick, too thin, overbaked, underbaked, perhaps a bit tough, and when it comes to decorating, I use mostly white frosting, sprinkle them with colored sugar, and add some red hots. But I like them, they taste good, and my technique leaves time for other things. KW

A HOLIDAY VISIT WITH INA -- DAY 22

Ina writes: Well, to continue and go on, after a late dinner I made donuts, for I must have fresh donuts for Christmas, and you know “do-nuts and coffee never hurt anyone.” That evening after all was cleared away, Dad popped two kettlefuls of lovely corn and we sugared one and put taffy over the other. We heaped a large platter with balls till Dad said, “Oh, that’s enough,” for he wanted some left to eat. Well, I sent him off to the living room to eat and read. Then I prepared my dressing and sweet potatoes for the morrow and put my buns to rise, for I’d baked lite bread and roasted beef too. At last I repaired to my seat before the fire with a pan of sugared corn, nuts and candy and filled eleven little Xmas boxes for the tree. Then I fell upon the boxes. Ethel’s was wrapped with green string and I cut this off to tie on packages, being foolish about green string for my tree packages . . . The packages were all so pretty and I had a great time -- hung them on the tree and under it. Ina Dobson, Christmas 1933

I didn't find a recipe for any kind of popcorn coating in Ina's recipe box, so I don't know how she did it. My dad, Vance, thought that a molasses-based popcorn was the finest kind of treat. He loved to cook, but he always sought to "improve" any recipe with which he worked. To his way of thinking, a recipe was meant to be changed. 

Here's one of Vance's recipes for a double batch of caramel corn:

2 cups sugar

1 cup white corn syrup

1/3 cup molasses

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1 1/2 tsp soda

Combine all ingredients except soda. Boil to 250 degrees. Dissolve soda in one tbsp hot water and add to syrup. Pour over two large containers [roasting pans] of corn (about 5 quarts each). Spread on cookie sheets and bake at 200 degrees until crisp.

If you want a simpler recipe for a smaller batch, you might try Betty Crocker (here). I would. 

A HOLIDAY VISIT WITH INA -- DAY 21

In recent discussion with brother Chuck, he mentioned that while I post writings from Ina and her daughters, Vance (my dad) is conspicuously missing. That’s because I don’t have many letters from Vance in my collection of family ephemera. But here’s one written to the folks at home from boot camp (Camp White). He has just returned from spending Christmas with cousins in Jacksonville, OR.

Sunday, Dec. 26, 1942

Vance Dobson, '30s

I had been told I had a wad of mail so I was looking forward to 12:30 mail call. I had packages from you, the Dave Andersons, the Bob Hannans, Mom and Pop Fairchild and Carney and Fern Phelps. Besides I had a half dozen greeting cards and a letter so you see, I had myself a field day.

Vance Dobson, Raymond, WA, '30s

Everything you sent was fine and your box was certainly attractive. The socks and tie are perfect and of course, the soap and razor blades much appreciated. I sampled the pork cake and am sure it is like the old. Well, many thanks.

Myrtle "Lynn" Dobson, at Vance's in Raymond

The Andersons sent me some candy, mints and two packs of cigarettes. Hannans sent me a carton of cigarettes and the Phelps sent me a handsome billfold which I was glad for, for I hadn’t a good one. Mom and Pop Fairchild sent me a date and nut cake. Nellie said Howard sent me a money belt and a couple of soap boxes I had requested. Russell and Frances Saling sent me a box of candy and cookies. The Schaefers sent me a most delicious box of homemade fudge plus a small fruitcake, and Bertha Lewis in South Bend sent me a box of home salted nuts and stuffed dates. So you see I have been very well remembered. Aren’t people wonderful? I am simply swamped with letters and “thank you” notes to be written.

 

I find it quite touching that my dad's friends were so generous. These people -- and more -- were on his Christmas card list for the rest of his life. KW 

A HOLIDAY VISIT WITH INA -- DAY 20

"A wintry landscape greets the eye wherever one may look." 2015

 A wintry landscape greets the eye wherever one may look, and we’ve had several cold days. Tonight there is a bluish look near the horizon that seems to presage a Chinook. Have had some two inches of snow and frost since Christmas. And speaking of that day, we had another of those awful “skimpy” affairs, which leaves us all wondering “where to put the new things, when we barely had room enough for the old!” Ethel Dobson Robinson on Christmas 1936

Is this Lynn's picture?

Kathy's picture, 2015

I got a picture of the house as the snow began to go. But we will have more, I hope. Myrtle (Lynn) Dobson, Christmas 1933

Real time – I don’t know if the warming trend we’re now experiencing can be defined as a “Chinook” or not. At any rate, after a weekend with highs in the teens and lows around zero, the predicted high for today is 45 with a wind advisory. Our driveway and street are slushy while the main road is just wet. But, more cold and snow is predicted, so I’m going out this afternoon.

Long story short, we have decided not to spend Christmas at the homestead this year. We’re concerned about the condition of our lane and the possibility of more snow even if we did get in. Frankly, I’m relieved. Our little town house will be cramped, but we have planned outings with family and friends, and if we need something, we can go to the store. Meanwhile, a snowy country Christmas exists in imagination. KW