Personal
Notes: |
Personal
Notes: This recipe was handed down to me from my Aunt Marie Strother. The tarts were served ay family holiday dinners and celebrations.
The story of the lemon tarts and recipe was published in a book written by a friend I met in Mazatlán
Lemon Tarts
S. Willingham, Lincolnshire, England
It was May of 1999, reservations were made and the time had finally come to make the journey to Europe and discover our roots.
My daughter, Julia and I had dreamed of the day when she would graduate from college and we would go to Europe on tour. Her twin brothers, Jeff and Jay weren’t interested in taking this journey; sports – basketball in particular was their dream. Just three or four days before we were to leave on our journey, Julia noticed her passport had expired. So calls were made, directions received and Julia took off for Seattle to get an emergency passport issued the same day. Nothing would get in our way or delay this trip.
We started talking about going to Europe just about the time when Julia started French classes in 7th grade Junior High. I told her it would be an opportunity for her to use the language she studied. She actually had an opportunity to use her French when she went as an Exchange Student to Paris when she was 16. It was a life changing experience for her and I was sure our journey to Europe would be for us.
My sister Pat had studied the family genealogy and had secured maps and directions to where are family started in S. Willingham/Lincolnshire England. As a child my Mother to us, my Grandmother to my Mother and my Great Grandmother to my Grandmother had looked at pictures of the family home in S. Willingham. That is where my Great Grandmother’s parents; Eva Charlotte Magee White and Squire Wilkinson White had lived before moving to Paper Sack, Oregon. *
Our family grew up with traditions that were handed down from generation to generation. At Christmas and Easter my Grandmother Mabel Magee Hetzler would make very special Lemon Tarts. My Aunt Marie continued that tradition and that is where I got the recipe that originated in England for the “Lemon Curd”. These special little tarts were part of our heritage and as we discovered in our journey only the beginning of understanding where we came from and why we did certain things.
*Paper Sack, Oregon you won’t find on a regular map, but it is just outside Condon, Oregon, where my Mother Eva was born. “Paper Sack” the name originated from the paper sack that mail was deposited in by the US Post Office on my Great, Great Grandparents ranch. There is a family cemetery plot there, where all the family originating from S. Willingham, England is buried behind a wrought iron fence.
It was Friday morning, Julia and I had flown from Portland, Oregon to Chicago and Chicago to London, England. Upon arrival we rented a car for the weekend before we joined our Whirlwind Tour of Europe on Monday. We started our journey North of London heading to S. Willingham. It seemed to take forever to get there. There was no freeway, just a series of roundabouts and plenty scary when you were learning to drive on the wrong side of the road and sitting on the wrong side of the car driving. As you entered the turn on the roundabout, which lane did you enter? Well we found out safely, much to the surprise of Julia. We were nearing S. Willingham according to the maps provided by Aunt Pat, when I saw a small sign for the turn off to S. Willingham. Julia said: “don’t turn yet, Mom – the map shows a different way and we will get lost”. I said: “Don’t worry, we will find it”. (I’ve been a Logistics Manager for 38 years so I was confident) There was no numbered address or even a street name. The home had been named the Cobbler’s Cottage many years past. We were looking for the shape of the house and the outer buildings and the sign for Cobbler’s Cottage. It was kind of a compound. I spotted the house by the missing sign “Cobbler’s Cottage” and drove into the grass driveway. Julia couldn’t believe we had found it that easy. A young lady (college age) came out to greet us and asked if she could help us. I told her our names; that we had come from Oregon and had just arrived in London. We had driven up to S. Willingham to find the old family home; my Great Great Grandparents had lived in. I showed her the picture we had and she agreed this was the place. She was home from college for the weekend and her parents were on Holiday. She invited us in and made us feel very welcome.
The original home had been divided up into three different residences, but her family had lived in the main part of the house. We had to duck as we walked through the archway into the dining room. Here was a fireplace with a large black pot that would swing in over the fire; where most of the cooking was done for ages. The rest of the cooking was done in another room. The rooms seemed small compared to our standards at home, but how exciting it was to walk on the ground and in the home where generations before had lived and cooked from our family.
As we walked outside I noticed a Daphne bush planted by the front door. A tradition passed on through the generations and now I know where it originated from. My Grandma Hetzler had such a bush at her front door, my Mom at her front door and I had one at my front door. When you walk out the front door and smell the Daphne blooming, it is the first sign of Spring; my Mother Eva always said.
I noticed the beauty of the landscaping. It wasn’t as defined as our flower beds; I guess it was a more natural planting. There were Purple Violets, another of Grandma Hetzler’s favorites that were also planted at the home I grew up in and are planted around the fish pond at my home. Sure enough, there was also a fish pond here.
Julia and I were amazed at the feelings we experienced as we walked the grounds of where our ancestors lived. This is where the Lemon Tarts first originated that we make every Christmas and Easter and for other special occasions. I once made Lemon Tarts for a Bachelor Party for Dave Simpson (a very special neighbor boy). Dave was getting married and my son Jeff asked that I make the special tarts for his party. The traditions continue…….
How was the rest of the trip? A wonderful experience to share with my daughter and won’t soon forget. Since then my daughter married and she had twin girls. Their middle names are after their Grandmother’s. (Very English names) Penelope Jean and Daphne Prudence. Daphne was named after that plant that graces the front porch of all our family homes from generation to generation
Book titled: Cupcakes on the Counter by RaeAnn Proost
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This recipe for Lemon Tarts - Great Great Grandma Magee's is from