All of these glorious moonlit nights have reminded me of a
story my mom once told of an incident forever a mystery to her.
Back in the early homesteading days in Meeker county, Mom’s
grandparents, Nils and Ellen Martinson, Swedish immigrants, farmers in Swede
Grove and sturdy, level headed, practical people were leaving a neighbor’s
home, where they had shared a meal, a few miles from their farm. The October
night was luminescent, with dry leaves swirling in the air and the only sound
that of the horses’ hooves as they trotted back home to a warm barn filled with
oats and hay. It was mid-October and there was a definite chill setting in as
they traveled the lonely dirt road.
Suddenly the team stopped dead in their tracks and Nels was
unable to get them to move. Out of nowhere, and I share this tale with a great
portion of skepticism, two apparitions appeared in the middle of the narrow
road. My great-grandparents, staunch Bible-banging Baptists, hearty,
no-nonsense pioneers, knew them to be spirits. They were stunned speechless and
later would liken the experience to that of Balaam’s donkey in the Old
Testament book of Numbers.
Though it seemed an eternity, in a matter of seconds what
they both saw was gone as mysteriously as it had appeared. And the horses
proceeded as though nothing had happened. The couple was shaken by the
experience, however, and wondered if God had sent the sign as a forewarning
that night.
Within just a matter of days, my great-grandfather developed
a blood clot in his leg and died shortly thereafter, on October 21, 1891. He
was 49 years old and left behind 6 children between the ages of 12 and 2. My
great-grandmother, no stranger to hardship, had lost her first three children in
one month, a dozen years earlier, to the diptheria epidemic that swept the
County in 1879. She held fast to her faith, never wavered in her resolve to
live out her days a woman of God and a solid gold example of how to exemplify
beauty from ashes. She had 50 more years to bless all the lives of those who
knew her. Including my Mom. With whom I pondered this story from time to time.
Who’s to say what really appeared on the road that dark fall night? It remains
just one more unanswered question in our family’s legend book.
GREAT GRANDMA’S HARVEST MOON ORANGE CAKE
3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Juice of one orange and zest
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
In a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar together. Stir in
buttermilk. Beat in egg. Add flour, soda, spices and orange juice and zest.
Stir well. Fold in raisins and nuts. Pour batter into a greased and floured 8
or 9 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Sprinkle powdered sugar
over top before serving.
HOMESTEADER’S SWEDISH APPLE CAKE
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
3 cups raw apples, chopped
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
In a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar together. Beat in
eggs. Stir in dry ingredients. Add apples and nuts. Pour batter into a greased
and floured 8 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.
GHOSTLY WHITE COOKIES
2 cups flour
1 cup butter
1/3 cup whipping cream
Sugar for dipping
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, butter and cream. Cover and
refrigerate for 1 hour. Roll 1/3 of the dough at a time on a flour-covered
board. Cut into small circles with a cookie cutter. Dip each circle into sugar
and place on a cookie sheet. Pierce each cookie with a fork a few times. Bake
at 375 degrees for 5 minutes, until set but not brown. Remove from oven and
cool. Combine frosting ingredients together and, when cooled, frost between two
rounds and layer to make sandwich cookies.
FROSTING
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
Harvest Orange food coloring and flavoring (if desired)
