Dimes From Heaven (Thank you Grandma Elsie!)

Elsie Moe 104 years and 5 months young

       Grandma Elsie died in on Monday, March 15th. (I give you the date for only one reason…it has been approximately six months since her death and I have received numerous reminders that she looks down on me from heaven at least twice a week.) Born on October 23rd, 1905, she lived to be 104 years and five months. I’ve written about Grandma Elsie and her garden in the past. She loved to plant flowers and always had a beautiful vegetable garden. At one time my young sons thought that her garden held the magic spell of youth as they overheard us talking one day and we said “Grandma’s garden keeps her young.” She lived alone in her house after her husband Abner died in 1960. (If you do the math you realize she was widowed 17 years LONGER than she was actually married.) She begrudgingly moved to a nursing home when she was 103. Until then my cousin would catch her up on the ladder painting her window trim! She didn’t want to bother anybody or ask for help.

       I had never heard of dimes dropping from heaven until the day of Grandma’s funeral. My sweet cousin was sweeping her kitchen floor, tidying up the house to put off her grief, when she turned around to find a brand new dime in the middle of the floor she had just cleaned. She held it up and said this is from Grandma. (I must admit I was a bit skeptical but it was her first smile of the day so I played along.) Well Grandma showed me because later as I was getting out of the car there was a dime on the ground right next to my foot! I picked it up and didn’t say a word. Two days later I found a dime on the Holiday gas station sidewalk. Ok, Ok this all might have been a coincidence but a dime in my shoe??? I tell you no lies; there was a dime in my shoe just a week later. Now they show up everywhere. In my pockets, under my desk, outside in the grass, at the park….My friend I am now a true believer! I swear to goodness, Dear Grandma Elsie is dropping dimes from heaven!

     Now I am not sure why it is dimes that we find. My first thought is that it is because Grandma was a centenarian and if you live more than 100 years you are given dimes to drop instead of mere pennies. Now I think it might be that a dime is a sign of love tenfold. Think about it if Grandma dropped a dime a week on each and every of her 23 grandchildren; 48 great-grandchildren; and 18 great-great-grandchildren that would be 4628 dimes in this next year alone. (We could plant a city park full of flowers!) Whatever the reason I am now saving these precious dimes in a jar and when I have enough I will plant a perennial flower in my garden in her memory, after all I might just have another 58 years to live and I will need my garden to keep me young. My husband Mike can paint the trim on the house though, he’ll only be 101! Peace, Sandy

“Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.”

Henry David Thoreau

Grandma Elsie’s Rhubarb Torte – From My sweet Cousin Dawn

Crust: 1 cup butter, 2 cups flour and 4 tablespoons sugar. Mix well and press into a 9 by 13 pan. Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Filling: 6 cups rhubarb, cut into small pieces, 1 cup milk, 2 cups sugar, 6 egg yolks, and 4 tablespoons flour. Mix well and pour over baked crust. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes at 350 degrees.

Topping: 6 egg whites and 2 tablespoons sugar. Whip until stiff and soft peaks form. Spread over torte and bake 3 minutes at 450 degrees, (just until browned). Serve warm or cold. Delicious!



Rhubarb Upside Down Cake – from Rose Mary Nelson



1 White cake mix plus ingredients to prepare

½ pint whipping cream

3 c. rhubarb

1 1/3 c. sugar

1 Tbsp. cinnamon

Make a white cake (per box or recipe directions), put into a 9X13 inch pan. Mix together the rhubarb, sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over cake batter. Pour ½ pint whipping cream over rhubarb. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes, tip out onto a cake plate or serve from the pan.


Rhubarb Crumble – from Patty Klug

Place 3 cups diced rhubarb in a 9 by 13 pan.

Make a batter of:

3 eggs

2 tablespoons flour

1 1/2 cup sugar

Pour this over rhubarb

Mix together until crumbly:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup butter



Sprinkle this on top of batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 min. Serve with whipped cream.