There was a faint smell in the air and I couldn’t quite identify it then I took a real deep snifter and it smelled like Cousin Emmy Lou’s Pull-Aparts. They were sensational, big, dusted with lots of cinnamon and warmed up in the oven for breakfast at the beach, they were a big hit with the family.
All of us, groggy from a deep night’s sleep, stagger into the kitchen an array of generational relatives trying to find a place to stand. We all knew the order of respect, Judy and Dave the oldest always got a bedroom to themselves. My sister and I took the bedroom with two twin beds and we were used to snoring and talking in the sleep.
Hostess Cousin Barbara always took the sofa in the second floor living room usually with some large dog perched on top. Some years it was a Newfoundland, then Bernese Mountain dogs, and as she got older smaller creatures that she could lift out of her backseat car if needed.
Cousin Emmy Lou out of touch with the family after many years away came happily back among the flock to share war stories from the past. She spoke of elegant family members and it was as though I actually knew them, but I was far too young among the hierarchy of our family members. Emmy Lou did not remember whipping her cousins with sticks when they did not rehearse the summer dance properly.
Apparently Aunt Caddy’s cottage became the performance stage, a long outside deck that led down into the badminton court. The net was brought down and all the chairs in the compound were set up for my family and their friends to enjoy the performance. It was even covered by the social section of the Aberdeen World.
I remember taking a Pull Apart on a dish and finding a place to sit among chairs and sofas in the living room. The nut-brown sugar syrup dazzled down the cinnamon bread which was soft and warm. Butter melted instantly when applied.
I miss Cousin Emmy Lou's Pull-Aparts but not as much as I miss her.