(Grandma’s) Copper Penny Carrots
2 lb pkg fresh carrots
1 onion
1 green pepper
1 can tomato soup
3/4 c vinegar
3/4 c vegetable oil
1 c sugar
1 tsp prepared mustard and Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper
Peel and clean carrots. Cook until tender, drain and slice. Place in a bowl. Mix the rest of the ingredients in pan and cook until heated, then pour over carrots. Let set overnight. Salt and pepper to taste.
Grandma has been on my mind this week. I miss her! Oddly, I do not remember these flowers ever popping up before, 3 of them did this week. Grandma had flowers such as these in her yard. She called them Pink Ladies. She told me that they only bloom once a year and they bloom for only one day. I guess I am about to find that out.
By the way, I did a search on Pink Ladies and found Pink Ladies Slippers, which could be another variety of these flowers. They apparently also grow on long single stems. Whatever the true name of the flowers are, they are beautiful.
The copper penny carrot recipe was grandma’s. Each time I visited her home she would tell me, “These are Father Pat’s favorites. He always asks me for them when he visits.” I would imagine he did.
The last time I visited grandma in the nursing home, she talked to me about Mary, the grand-daughter named after herself (and her mother). She also talked about her visit from Father Pat. As I left she hugged me and said, “You are such a sweet lady, you will come back and see me?” That was good enough for me. She remembered Mary, she just could no longer link her to me.
A few days later I received the call. Grandmother was in the hospital, and it was not good. I walked into the hospital lobby and was greeted by a man that I did not know, a pastor, a man also declared legally blind. He really could not see me, he later told me. He walked up to me, held my hand and said, “I am father Pat.” I thought my heart would stop right then and there. I thought I was too late. “I am going to lead you to her room. You need to pray for her, she is at peace.” He walked me up and down the corridors. We took the various elevators. He knew his way around. He talked lovingly of my grandmother. I then knew why grandmother spoke so highly of Father Pat. He also told me that several days before her hospitalization he had visited her and she asked him to pray with her. She was able to recite everything that she knew, and spiritually she was ready to leave this earth apparently. And at those words my heart was broken, but I was at peace because my grandmother did the right thing. It gave me strength that was immeasurable.
I stayed with my grandmother until the end that day. I held her hand and talked to her about letting go, and even though she did not answer me, we talked about where she was going. It was beautiful.
So…there is my story about copper penny carrots (almost the color of Father Pat’s hair), big grin!!!
By the way, the recipe calls for Mazola oil. And 3/4 C is a lot of oil…in my opinion!
Have a beautiful Tuesday!
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