To Grammy

This post is dedicated to my grandmother, Avis. Something about Tangier reminds me of her, and I find myself thinking about her and my grandfather often. She has been one of the most influential people in my life - I know that my enthusiasm for everything, interest in the natural world, the value I place on education, and my belief that above all, we should try to be kind, come from her.

So does my love of key lime pie! I will always remember having key lime pie for dessert when we visited them in Florida, and how thrilled all the kids (and adults) were with her idea of buying three different ones - one from Jerry's, one from Bailey's, one from Sun Harvest - to compare.

I thought of her immediately last week when a friend brought us some Tangerois lemon tart - a creamy, tangy filling and a graham cracker crust, just like key lime pie! It inspired me to make a version of my own.

I used lemons instead of key limes, imported English wheat biscuits instead of graham crackers, and added a dash of orange blossom water. It was delicious, and well received by our friends.

The sweet, delicate scent of the orange blossom water reminds me of her too - my mom talks about how much she loves orange blossoms, and how she carried them in her wedding bouquet.

I think she would like the orange almond cake I baked too...

...maybe with a cup of warmy tea! The bright yellow Lipton tea made me think of how much she loves a warm cup of tea, and how she would have tea parties with us when we were little. We would invite our favorite dolls and stuffed animals, and she would set out cookies and tiny cups. She even let us add as much sugar as we wanted, which, when you are six, is absolutely thrilling.

The fresh-squeezed orange juice too reminds me of Florida, the best two weeks of the year. When I was younger, I thought everyone was this close with and had this much fun with their family, and only as I got older did I realize how amazing it was that Grammy and Boppa chose to devote their time and energy to the family and bringing us together for Christmas every year.

The palm trees make me think of Florida too! Grammy always points out things like the way the sun sparkles on the water, or the way the wind rustles the leaves of trees. I was thinking of her when i took this picture of palm trees in downtown Tangier.

And of course, sunsets! She loves clouds, and I know she would have liked watching the sun set over the Mediterranean Sea and seeing how the light changed color. I think of her every time I see interesting cloud shapes.

I miss you Grammy!