Mondays's with Mom...Kolacky

My Mom spent hours every day pouring over newspapers and reading books. She was always reading something. Right beside her she kept a scissors and several scraps of paper, so she could cut out an  interesting article, recipe or photo from the newspaper. She used the scraps of paper as bookmarks.

She sat in the kitchen, at the table, as it was always the warmest spot in the house. Our beloved old black lab, appropriately named Blackie, slept under the table. Moms feet were always cold, so she would slip off her shoes and put her feet on Blackie to warm up. He loved it! They spent many cozy hours there together.

Above our old wooden kitchen table( that was always covered with a red checked oilcloth table cloth) hung a big bulletin board. Back then, there weren't all the fancy magnetic boards, or cute, colorful  magnetic calendars and chalkboards that you see so often now in many kitchens and mudrooms. This was just a plain bulletin board, nothing fancy.  Mom hung our school pictures on it, our school and church calendars, recipes, her favorite bible verses, clippings from the newspaper,etc. It was the center of the kitchen. We looked at it every day. After all, one never knew what new and interesting thing she'd found to hang up there!

Not only did she clip things from the paper for herself,or for our bulletin board, but she had little "piles" for other people too. If she found a photo of somebodies grand kids in the paper, she would send it to them. If she found an article about how to plant tomatoes and she knew a friend would find that useful or interesting, off it went in the mail. It was another way she showed her love to others, I guess.

Later when we were all grown up and had homes of our own, she would send us articles and recipes she had clipped. I'd open up the envelope and sure enough, out would fall several clippings. One might be on how women my age should have more vitamin D, or that children shouldn't sit so close to the TV, as it would hurt their eyes. (My kids were just laughing about that the other day. She had a piece of masking tape on the carpet at her house....you had to sit BEHIND it to watch TV.)  She always included a bible verse on a recipe card,too, in her own handwriting. The verses always seemed appropriate to what was happening in our lives. Most of the time there were recipes in the envelope, too. She knew I loved recipes.

When my daughter was only 10, she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. How our lives changed! Shots everyday, meals and snacks to plan, everything had to be on time. Now the insulin has changed, but then you had to eat about the same amounts each day, and  take the same amounts of insulin,  at about the same time each day. Not very flexible. They have made a lot of progress, and now with the newer insulin, you can adjust the amount you want to eat to fit the amount of insulin needed, at the time you want to eat. We are still praying for a cure, but are so thankful for all the progress that has been made already!

For a 10 year old, it was a lot to handle. While the other kids were eating candy or snacks whenever they wanted, she of course could not. This broke my moms heart, and she was always sending me recipes that were low in sugar, or articles on diabetes care.

The recipe I am sharing today is one that she found, clipped, and sent to me so many years ago. It does not have sugar, but is still a sweet treat. It is a simple, tasty crust-like cookie, with just a bit of "no sugar added" preserves in the middle. It is called Kolacky. It's a type of pastry that holds a small dollop of fruit, originating from central Europe as a semi sweet wedding desert. Kolache means "small cookie."

 I used to make them years ago,when our daughter was home, but haven't thought about them for ages, until I found the old clipping. I decided to make them today, and had forgotten how good they are.They are light and flaky, and, well, just a perfect bite full of goodness! I'm so glad mom clipped this recipe!

Now in this day and age, mail, and even newspapers, are becoming a thing of the past. Now we have email, computers, and smart phones.

But you know what?

 I 'm pretty sure if my mom were still alive, she would still have been sending me emails of recipes and things she found and read on the computer that she thought I'd like. AND now that her grandchildren have homes of their own, she'd be sending things to them too. And yes, she would still have that bulletin board hanging in her kitchen, and that piece of tape on her carpet!

Kolacky

1/2 c. butter, softened

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 c. flour

jam ( we always used Allfruit preserves....but I used raspberry jam for these)

Mix the butter and cream cheese, beating well. Add the flour. Pat into two balls and refrigerate 1 hour. Roll each ball into a 1/8 in. thick rectangle. I use 2 pieces of wax paper, putting a ball in between the 2 sheets and then rolling, but you can also use flour. Cut into 2 1/2 in squares. Put a small amount of jam in the center and pinch two opposite sides together.Pinch them together tightly so they don't open while baking! Place them on un greased cookie sheets and bake at 375 for 10 to 15 minutes until lightly browned.