Friends and Food: Gram and Pickles

Our small group escaped to the Northwoods of Minnesota for a retreat. We played games, did some solitude, study and discussion. We had fires, went for walks and of course we ate. We ate a lot and it was all SO scrumptious!!!

This provided me some inspiration that I wanted to start a periodic blog topic titled Friends and Food. So many moments in a friendship happen around a dinner table or sharing a piece of dessert. So from here on out every so often I will highlight a dear friend and a recipe they have made for us over the years. You know the recipe that you get afterwards, make at home and are SO thankful for it while you are eating with your own family. Enjoy!

Today I am going to highlight my dear Gram of the North and her amazing delicious pickles. How our relationship came to be is one of my favorite stories to tell!

We met at a presidential rally for the 2000 election, you know the Bush vs. Gore vs. Chad one. We had just moved to Duluth and started classes at UMD. One of my instructors let us know that Bush would be at the D.E.C.C. that afternoon. At that time I was very much into politics and figuring it all out therefore I wanted to engage in anything and everything. So I got in my little Corolla and just drove towards the lake as I didn't even know where this place was, but it had to be by the lake, right? Somehow I found it and was let into park despite having no money to pay the parking attendant. I then went inside and got in the first line I found. A few minutes later a man and woman got in line behind me. I turned around and said, "So this is what Republicans look like?" The woman laughed and the rest is history. She took me under her wing immediately and we found a ticket for my entrance. The three of us stood for two hours awaiting George W's arrival. We took this time getting to know each other. We experienced the rally together and by the end were hugging and exchanging contact information.

A few weeks later I called her requesting a coffee date. We met at Barnes and Noble and talked for hours. HOURS! She listened. We laughed. She encouraged. We laughed. The next meeting I brought Heath to meet this mystery woman of 67. She brought us sugar cookies and that is when Heath deemed her our Gram of the North.

Gram and Roger became our family when we had none in Duluth. They invited us into their home for dinners, fires and good conversation. The Lord was always present in these time despite my lack of acknowledgement. Gram wrote a beautiful poem and read it at our wedding. She was there when the bottom fell out with my family back in Monticello soon after we were married. We walked the journey with them through some of the worst family tragedies they were experiencing with their own children and grandchildren. She was one of the first people I called to share I was in labor with both boys because I know she will celebrate with me, but also pray...pray...pray!

Despite the age gap, Gram has always known how to meet us right where we were at. She had traveled the roads we were on: starting/maintaining a healthy marriage, jobs, kids, relationships. She has never been afraid to speak truth to us all the while loving us deeply and unconditionally.She was the first person in my life that showed me Christ's love. And for that I am eternally grateful.

Gram and Roger recently moved to Florida and will spend summer in Minnesota. While I do miss them being just two hours north and feel a huge void as we pass through Duluth knowing they are not there. I am thankful for Gram's efforts to be engaged in technology that can keep us close despite the miles. We are hopeful to make a family trip down to Florida this winter for a visit.

I have to say that I now joke with Gram frequently that our relationship is the best thing George W. ever did. She responds to my joking by getting me an elephant outfit for Brevin or an elephant charm for my charm bracelet. In all seriousness, we both know without a doubt that God brought us together in this amazing relationship.

And for all of this life we have done together, her pickles have ALWAYS been present. They sit in a beautiful Gram kind of dish on the table waiting for Heath and I to scarf them up. The last time we enjoyed time together, I asked Gram, "How do you make these Gram." For some reason I had always thought she had a secret pickle farm, but nope...here is the recipe:

SWEET DILL PICKLES

1 qt whole dills (cheapest you can buy)
2 1/2 C white sugar
2/3 c vinegar (I use cider)
1/4 c water
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp poppy seed

rinse pickles and jar good, cut pickles into chunks, back into jar.

boil sugar, vinegar, water for a couple min.

celery and poppy seeds into jar b4 pouring hot liquid over pickles.

Pour hot liquid over pickles and put covers on immediately.

Let stand for a week, I put them in fridge after they cool.

To make 2 qts I 1/2 the liquid and it is enough for 2 qts.

Have plenty on hand once all your friends taste them!!!!!