Anne, my husband’s step mother, was born in 1921, on the island of Dahle, in Kristiansund, Norway. Anne traveled to America via steamship with her mother, Anna, and three siblings when she was two-years-old. The family entered the United States through Ellis Island in 1923, to join husband/father, Tobias, who had traveled to America two years earlier to find work. My widowed father-in-law, Verlin, was introduced to Anne in 1957 while visiting a company in New Haven, CT, where Anne was the executive secretary for the president of the company. A short courtship ensued.  They were married in the fall of 1958. At 36, Anne became a first-time wife, and mother to Verlin’s three sons:  my husband, ten, and his two older brothers.  Until her marriage to Verlin, Anne lived with her parents. Her mother did all the shopping and cooking, so Anne had very little domestic training and could hardly cook; but with Verlin as her mentor, she became an extraordinary cook. Her greatest culinary gift was being able to ‘taste a recipe’. It is through her shared expertise that I developed an appreciation for eating and preparing simple, fresh and full-flavored foods.  I am fortunate to have Anne’s loose-leaf recipe binder containing her treasured recipes – all typed, of course!  It is my distinct pleasure to share the recipe for this family-favorite “Anne dessert” which she often served with in-season, freshly hulled and sliced strawberries. 

#gatewaynewhavenfood #gatewaycc #connecticut #recipe #almond #norway #ellisisland #newhaven #recipe #cake #norwegiangoldcake

– CW

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant