Butch

Trilety introduced you to our Hungarian nut roll in her last post. And to give an update, we've finally figured out and solidified our variations to my grandma's original recipe. Woo! We spent all of last Monday in the kitchen at Barbi's farm in northwest Omaha. What a wonderful space to spend the day baking!

Grandma Butch (Henrietta Thomas) was my father's mother. My experience was that she was a strict but lovely woman. She raised four rowdy sons on her own and ended up with twenty-some grandchildren and more great-grandchildren before she passed away. She was a devout Catholic, always telling us to pray when we saw her. Pray for our parents, pray for each other, pray for the starving children around the world. I remember her babysitting my two brothers and me in the summers when we were out of school and our mom was at work during the day. She called the sofa a davenport, she made apple pies (I can still picture her hands cutting up apples), she made us take naps, and our cat was afraid of her.

Most, if not every, Christmas she made a Hungarian nut roll for the family. My dad's family would spend Christmas Eve together. When I was younger, I cared more about chocolate than nutty raisiny pastries, but over time her nut roll grew on me. I began to cherish it as a tradition unique to our family. And now I love that her recipe has been given to me. I didn't know Grandma Butch as well as I would have liked, but I would like to think that she'd be proud of me and proud that her recipe has inspired Trilety and me so much.

Henrietta (Grandma Butch) and me,  maybe 2004

As we continue to get our remaining ducks lined up for our store opening, we'll keep you updated on our progress. So many little things to do, and some big things too. One step at a time.

~Megan