“My family always ate dinner together, and still do,” Angela said. “It’s an event, particularly now that we aren’t always together.”

She recalled a recent family wedding with great gondness, saying, “I was delighted to have all 34 people to dinner and cook for them.

“It gives me great joy to have all 34 people sitting around the table, talking and laughing and chatting,” she continued.

“That is a family to me, the relationship that people have when they sit down to eat and talk together. It’s quite a special thing.”

At occasions like these (especially the ones that take place in the summer), Angela often makes a generous batch of homemade strawberry ice cream, a family favorite with years of history. 

“It’s a very simple, very rich ice cream that’s absolutely yummy,” she summarized. She’s been making it for nearly forty years, ever since a friend sent her the recipe. 

“She had six children, and when she gave it to me, she said, ‘It makes a lot,’” Angela laughed. “And it does—when everyone comes over, they all have a slice.”

“Anyway, I don’t make it for me, because it’s full of cream, but I make it for special occasions, and everybody loves it.”