FAMILY

Wow, what a week this has been for family! First my sister and I have our long phone call yesterday, and today a very sweet cousin of mine reached me via Facebook. It really seems as if this Shavuot is a very magical, special one for me. So, I decided that today I would tell you a bit about my real life family.

I am the eldest of two girls. I always wanted a big brother, but my parents would never get me one! On my maternal side, my mother comes from a family with 2 boys and 3 girls. Her mother had 6 sisters and a step-brother. On my paternal side, my father is one of 4 boys. His mother had 2 brothers (maybe 3, I'm not positive) and 3 sisters (I think there may have been a 4th sister, but again, my memory stinks! Now multiply this by 2-3 children for each sibling and that's a lot of people, especially now that my sister and I are grandparents ourselves. My Mom is close with her siblings and is close with her cousins. I am close to my 1st cousins, and a few of my second cousins, but the family has grown so big that I don't know half of my relations any more. We are closer to my Mom's side of the family, and I truly believe that this is the norm for most people.

Holidays are great reunions in our family, first congregating at my Maternal or my Paternal grandparents' house, now only congregating at the house of my Mom's youngest sister for all holidays. I don't see my Father's side for holidays, sadly, but I do see them during the year. Some years I can't celebrate with either side of my family as I have my own and spend holidays with my Step-Children and Grandchildren. But, these gatherings are just as important and wonderful to me. But I do worry that my Aunt and Uncle who keep our family together are not in good health, and of course they are also aging. I want to spend holidays with them as much as I can at this point. So, families can cause problems for us, but we are lucky to have such problems!

Does our family argue and have falling outs? Of course we do, we are human after all, but we each know that no matter what we love each other and will always be there for one another if possible.

I think the greatest way to get to know family members is to get older and more relaxed with yourself and are able to focus on other people rather than yourself. You really need listen, to reminisce with your family members, and above all, to laugh with them.

Enough postulating...again, in honor of Shavuot is another dairy recipe. This sounds like a great dessert recipe, especially for this time of the year. I have not tried this recipe and found it on the Net last year.

Creamy Strawberry Mallow Cups

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Submitted by: cybercook

This simple, 4 ingredient, frozen treat will delight young and old alike.

Simply combine ice cream, heavy cream, fresh strawberries and marshmallows.

Ingredients

2 quarts vanilla ice cream, softened

1 cup heavy cream

3 cups strawberries, hulled and finely chopped

5 cups miniature marshmallows

Method

Arrange 24 3 ounce paper cups on a rimmed tray. In a large bowl, combine ice cream, cream, strawberries and marshmallows. Stir until well combined then pour 1/4 cup of mixture into each cup. Freeze cups until partially set, insert a Popsicle stick into each cup and freeze

completely.

Servings: 24

Enjoy!

Love,

Marilyn