Annie "Nana" Nicholson


Nana Nicholson at her kitchen table circa. 1965
During my recent trip to Cape Breton, I browsed the book section of a gift shop at the entrance to the Cape Breton Highlands National Park just outside Cheticamp.  Not looking for anything in particular, I noticed a rather small, spiral bound cookbook entitled A Treasury of Nova Scotia Heirloom Dishes by Florence M. Hilchey, who collected these recipes "from very old cookbooks, scribblers, and notebooks."  The first recipe for "Nova Scotia Homemade Bread" convinced me that I needed to bring this souvenir home, with a wish and a prayer that it would produce rolls like the ones my grandmother made.

Of course, Nana Nicholson never used a recipe to make her rolls.  At least that's what I am told, and I believe it.  When I was in first and second grade, my father dropped me off at my grandparent's house every morning so that I could walk next door to Ascension School on Vernon St. in Worcester, MA.  I had my lunch in their kitchen every school day, and returned to to their house after school to wait for my dad to pick me up on his way home from work about 5:00 pm.  I'm pretty sure there were warm rolls waiting for me every day after school.  Nana kept soft butter in a round stainless steel butter dish, and the butter melted on contact with the fluffy white bread.  They didn't need jam or peanut butter or anything else... they were just plain delicious.

It seems that I remember these rolls particularly around holiday time, and this Thanksgiving is no exception.  Now I have a recipe and I will try to reproduce that magical treat.  Why, you may wonder, did I not just ask my mother to show me how to make Nana's rolls?  Well, she never helped with the baking, she tells me.  She had 4 sisters and I don't think any of them were known to make bread either.  Maybe it was just easier for my Nana to make the rolls than to show the girls how to do it.  I think it was their responsibility to clean up the kitchen.  Here they are pitching in to wash and dry the dishes!
Aunts Dena, Mary, Sadie and Margaret
Whatever I ate at Nana's house remains a favorite for me.  My grandmother fed me many a tuna fish or egg salad sandwich, and these are still my lunchtime staples.  She made a killer beef-barley soup that is the poster child for comfort food in my mind.  My mother remembers her mother's salmon patties, which they called salmon balls, and I do too.  Do you have memories of delicious dishes made in your grandmother's kitchen?  If you do, please feel free to share using the comment section below.  Also, you can sign up to receive email notifications of new posts to this blog.

Well, here is the before and after for my first attempt at Nana's rolls:


I regret to say that the recipe disappointed me.  They were not at all like I remember those Cape Breton rolls my grandmother made. They did make the house smell good for a while after they came out of the oven, though.  I will have to try again.  Please let me know if you have any suggestions.  Cousins, did you watch that master roll maker? Can you give me any hints?

With gratitude for all the blessings I have received, especially for the gift of family living and past, I wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving.

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