Almost every afternoon around the 4:00pm hour, my grandma Lucy would make a pot of coffee and serve a little slice of a freshly baked sweet treat to whomever was around. Sometimes this was my grandpa Herbert, home from the firehouse, or her sisters stopping by for a chat in their Chicago neighborhood or friends who were staying with them from out of town. Sometimes Lucy baked these desserts herself, sometimes Herbert did, and sometimes they purchased them from the local German bakery in their neighborhood. Pastries, coffee cake, doughnuts, pound cake, crullers, Black Forest cake, turnovers, danishes... the desserts rotated on a weekly basis, but the routine never faltered throughout most of her adult life. Even when they went on vacation. During this small break in the day, Lucy would socialize with her sisters or play a game of cards with her visitors or chat about life with Herbert before they got busy again doing stuff around the house or getting dinner ready. After Lucy passed away in 1980, my grandpa still carried on this tradition every afternoon for the next 14 years of his life. I love everything about this. The baking, the life-long tradition, the relaxing respite. Last year and the first half of this year were so stressful I’m looking forward to clinging to all activities that promote joy, relaxation and tender in these coming months months and years. In celebration of this new found enlightenment, of the long weekend, of these two lovebirds and their coffee hour tradition, I made @marthastewart cinnamon streusel coffee cake yesterday. My husband and I sat down with slices of cake, clinked our coffee cups and had a little cheers to Lucy and Herbert for reminding us that life is sweeter when you take some time to relax. ♥️ (Photos of Lucy and Herbert follow, but sadly no coffee hour photo of them has been discovered yet.) . . . . #coffeecake #cinnamonstreusel #marthastewartrecipe #4oclock #cakeandcoffee #grandparents #madefromscratch #bakinglove #homemadecake #familystories https://www.instagram.com/p/CPgR-KiAs4w/?utm_medium=tumblr
