Stories from the Stringam Family Ranches of Southern Alberta

From the 50s and 60s to today . . .



Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Of Brothers and Cookies and Raisins


It only LOOKS delicious . . .

I love raisins.
Especially in trail mix.
Or coated in chocolate.
I should probably point out, here, that coating in chocolate is not really an accurate test of raisin love.
If you coated a hubcap in chocolate, I'd eat it.
Moving on . . .
I did not always love raisins. (Even now, I prefer my cinnamon buns and other baked treats to be raisin-free.)
It wasn't until after I was married that I learned to appreciate them.
There is a reason for that.
Which I'm happy to tell you about now.
My brother, George, is two years older than I.
Throughout our growing-up years, his prime responsibility was the teasing of his younger sister.
He practised his craft at every opportunity.
Mercilessly.
And became very good at it.
One day, our mom made cookies.
Something she did a lot.
On this particular occasion, she had produced mounds of raisin cookies.
They were spread out temptingly across the table.
The aroma drew my brother and I from the depths of the house.
“Mmmm. Raisin cookies,” George said. He turned to me. “I knew that Mom was going to make raisin cookies today.”
“You did?” I asked innocently.
“Yep. I did,” he said.
“Did Mom tell you?”
“Nope.”
“You can tell by the smell?”
“Partially. But that's not the real reason.”
“Well, I give up. How did you know?”
He leaned towards me, a big grin on his face. “I knew Mom was going to bake raisin cookies because I saw her picking the raisins off the fly-paper at the back door.”
And from that moment on, in fact for the next twenty years, George had all of the raisin goodies that emerged from Mom's kitchen to himself.
Smart cookie.

P.S. He also tried to convince me that my rice was moving.
But that is another story . . .

15 comments:

  1. What a little devil.

    ReplyDelete
  2. LOL, brothers are bad, I never had of them. Big teases they are:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Big teases that, fortunately, turn into best friends!

      Delete
  3. What a smart brother you have! I wonder what he would have done had you gobbled up those cookies? Too bad your child-like innocence came into play. And I must confess that I would also eat a chocolate covered hubcap!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah! A fellow chocoholic! He knew exactly which buttons to push. And all of the cookies were his!

      Delete
  4. I read your stories and know why I had to be the oldest.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your brother knew his psychological warfare tricks very well. The thought of what the food might have been doing before is why we don't eat insects I think. I watched a report of a restaurant offering insects as a featured menu item. New trend? I found your blog over at Pearl's blog.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I've heard that one before...

    I can't eat raisins. Period.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't really pick the raisins off the fly paper. Any more . . .

      Delete
  7. Oh yes, the raisins and that sticky brown paper. One had to have an imagination to survive on that ranch...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Diane, I'm convinced big brothers are God's way of keeping us on our toes! George is a crafty one! I wonder if he can still talk you out of raisin cookies today! hee hee! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He is my best friend now, Bella! And yes, he can still talk me out of a raisin cookie. It just seems to be a gift! :)

      Delete

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