My Nanny Marg

My paternal grandmother, Margaret, died last week, and today was her funeral. My Nan's husband, and my Poppy Roy, died in October last year and I wrote a post at the time commemorating him with a recipe using rosemary, which is a symbol of remembrance.

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I couldn't attend my Nan's funeral as it was in Sydney, but I was able to contribute by compiling all the contributions of Nan's 9 grandchildren into one tribute to be read by my brother and cousin at the funeral. What struck me about all the messages from my cousins was how many of their memories (and mine) were about food my Nan had made for them.

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I've said this before, but I think it's so lovely to have a passion/hobby that you can use to show others how much you love them. Cooking is such a passion and baking someone a cake, throwing them a birthday lunch, or hosting a baby shower, is a perfect gift to give, and probably means far more to the recipient than any gift you could have bought.

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My Nan was a great cook, and she had a brilliant memory. These two skills combined meant that she always remembered your favourite food and she always made it for you. Many of my cousins remember my Nan's delicious apple pie, but our absolute favourite was my Nan's caramel tarts. Nan knew I loved these, so whenever she'd come to visit she'd bring a tin filled with tiny pastry cases and a big jar of caramel. We'd fill the tart cases with the caramel and maybe a little cream. The left over caramel we'd then warm up and drizzle over ice cream. It meant so much to me, and made me feel so special, that she'd always remember what I liked, and went to the trouble of making it.

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I won't look at another caramel tart ever again without thinking of my Nan.