Thursday, September 5, 2013

Anniversary Dinner




Yesterday, September 4, was our forty-eighth wedding anniversary.


Larry got home from jury duty hot and tired. It was much too warm to cook, so we finally decided to repeat our wedding supper.

Just like this year, we were married on the hottest day of 1965 in a church (Marengo Avenue Methodist Church in Alhambra, California) with no air conditioning. The wedding was at eight at night to try to avoid having to serve a meal, small children, and some of the heat. We succeeded on the first two counts...

Four hundred twenty-five people attended a truly memorable service during which my veil kept drooping. But all that mattered was we were finally married.

The day had been really hectic, and neither of us had eaten. We had a cake and punch reception. (Try to get away with that today!) Since we were mere children—I was only one week past my nineteenth birthday, and Larry was twenty-one—and we had to pay for most of the wedding ourselves, this was easier. I worked for the baker, Mr. Brown of Lucille Brown's Bakery, so he gave us the cake as his gift. (It was truly the most beautiful one he ever made.)


Mom had prepared cold cuts and salads back at the house after the service, but we wanted to get on the road to Crestline. (Larry’s folks were members of the old St. Moritz Club, and they rented us a ‘chalet’ for our honeymoon.)

We were driving out the freeway after ten at night when we both realized how hungry we were. We pulled off at Peck Road in El Monte and ate hamburgers at Denny’s. (I was and remain a cheap date!)

So last night, we went to Denny’s again!

5 comments:

  1. I enjoyed reading about your wedding. Congratulations on 48 years! We had been married 45 years when Jack died last year. Wishing you many more!

    Oh, I got a kick of "to avoid having to serve ..., small children, and some of the heat." Glad you didn't have to serve small children. :-)

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    1. Thank you, Lillie. Yes! We really didn't want to have screaming kids spoil the service. At that time of night, we figured the parents would leave them at home--and they did! Ah, we were young...

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    2. But they might have been delicious. ;)

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  2. Wonderful memories! We're way behind you - Only 11 years this May. How I miss Lucille Brown's bakery! (The prettiest birthday cake I ever had - remember those beautiful icing roses they made, lightly sprinkled with silver sparkles?). We had a terrific cold buffet (air conditioning!), but later, after we checked into the Plaza Hotel (a wedding-night gift from two cousins), we realized we were still hungry (Who really eats at their reception?), and ended up grabbing crab cakes at the Brooklyn Diner (No, it's not in Brooklyn - Just a three-block walk from the Plaza). - Congratulations on a great marriage! - Kathleen Huber

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    1. Thanks, Kathy!
      Yes, Mr. Brown (no one ever called him by his first name, which was Everett, BTW) made the most gorgeous cakes ever. Unfortunately, I don't have a colored picture of this one. It wasn't leaning. The photo was scanned a bit crookedly. It had his fabulous roses in several shades of pink to match my color scheme on the delicious white icing. Between the layers were more roses and his signature ribbons. The pillars were 'crystal' (clear acrylic--new at the time), and hanging from each platform were the most delicate strings of icing 'lace.' I've seen the technique demonstrated on some of the cake competition shows, and it's supposed to be one of the most difficult techniques to master. This was one of the larger cakes I ever saw him make: four layers. Truly a precious gift. In college one year, I had worked for his wife in their home as their housekeeper. This was during the time the bakery was closed for remodeling. I could set my own hours which worked well with my schedule. I got to know and love Lucille. I'm sure she was part of the reason he did such a special cake for us.
      Did you know he did 'prop' food for the movies? In the Clint Eastwood film where he downs a bunch of hot peppers, Mr. Brown was hired to create them from marzipan. The big test came when they set out two plates, one with the real ones and one with the candy ones. No one on the set could tell which was which. Neither could the camera.
      And, yes, no one eats at the reception. One bite of cake is about all you get!

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