Sisters Wendy, Pam, Holly....holding a pan of Mom's/Vera's Cherry Squares
in honour of our Mother.....with Love.
Friday March 13 we lost a very precious woman - our Mother Vera.
It was sudden but she was surrounded by her family when her time was near,
singing her favorite songs, this left a smile on her face.
Mothers, they are the brick that holds everything together, the one we call to ask for advice,
a recipe, when to start seedlings and so much more.
These Cherry Squares are very well known in the Castlegar and area. Whenever there was a birthday, holiday or just a gathering of family or friends Mom would say 'I'll make Cherry Squares' and everyone would start to salivate at this ending to the meal. She made them up in huge pans so everyone would have a piece. She made her very own Sour Cherry filling from the Sour Cherry trees that Mom and Dad grew in their garden. They would have been picked at their peak, pitted and frozen into bags for just this occasion.
(oh and she made the best sour cherry pies and sour cherry tarts)
Mom didn't always use a recipe and somehow everything she made tasted perfect and that, I know, is because she put so much LOVE into everything she made and did.
She has left a hole in many people's lives but she did leave us with precious memories, good morals and lots of recipes. So each time I make one of her dishes, she will be right beside me in my kitchen and that will give my heart peace and a smile on my face.
MOM'S/VERA'S/BABA'S/TYOTA'S CHERRY SQUARES RECIPE
(The recipe below is for a large crowd but can be easily cut in half)
4 cups whipping cream
2 blocks cream cheese, softened
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
2 Tablespoons Icing sugar
1 box graham wafer crumbs
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1/8 cup melted Butter
3 cans cherry pie filling ( Mom made homemade sour cherry pie filling)
2 blocks cream cheese, softened
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
2 Tablespoons Icing sugar
1 box graham wafer crumbs
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1/8 cup melted Butter
3 cans cherry pie filling ( Mom made homemade sour cherry pie filling)
Mix the graham wafer crumbs, sugar and butter together.
Set aside 1/4
cup of this mixture ( for topping).
Press the rest of the crumb mixture into a large foil pan and bake at 350
for 10 minutes.
Cool. Beat cream until it is starting to thicken, add
softened cream cheese by the Tablespoon, until all is incorporated, stir in 2 tablespoons icing sugar, 1 Tablespoon vanilla.
Spread cream cheese mixture over cooled crumbs
Pour the cherry pie filling over cream cheese layer and spread evenly.
Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture evenly over the top
Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
'Food is a language of care, the thing we do when traditional language fails us,
when we don't know what to say, when there are no words to say'
Shauna Niequist
