By Xavier Kataquapit
Windspeaker.com
When I first met my partner Mike’s mom Emily McGrath so many years ago I was immediately struck by how open and kind she was. Everyone knew her as Emmy and she reminded me so much of all the Elders I had grown up with in my family.
I was a soft-spoken Cree from the James Bay coast when I first got to know her. Life was intimidating for me when I first started to live and work as a writer away from my home community. But Emmy made sure I was always safe, comfortable and looked after. I owe a lot of my transition to a new life to her.
She was born in 1926 and grew up during the time of the Great Depression. And, as a young woman, she endured the loss of family and classmates during the Second World War. She often told me stories of those days and what life was like growing up in an Irish family on the less than prosperous side of the tracks in the town of Iroquois Falls.
She grew up in a time of racism, McCarthyism, bigotry, homophobia, when there was no public health care system and when worker unions were still fighting for people. Emmy had close friends that came from diverse cultures and backgrounds and even gay friends. She believed in getting along with everyone.
It was also a time when worker solidarity was the norm and she was a vibrant member of her union at the pulp and paper mill. I enjoyed sitting over tea and listening to her stories and although she was older and frail when I met her, she still had the strength to stand for positive movements and democratic ideals.
I felt very safe and comfortable in her home with my partner Mike as there was no alcohol or drugs in this environment.
Her goodness was obvious in what she did for people, for her community and for her family. Emmy was recognized and awarded for her many years of volunteering as a Girl Guide leader with an award at Queen’s Park.
She was also a volunteer at the local elderly care home and she supported the arts and the development of the Emma Ciotti art gallery, named after her good friend Emma Pierini, whose maiden name was Ciotti.
I think of how she would feel about seeing two modern wars killing thousands of people and putting us on the brink of nuclear war, the rapidly advancing climate change terror and the development of far-right, anti-democratic movements. She had been through tough times as had my own mom and dad Susan and Marius.
I think all of them would be very upset and distressed that our world had taken this negative direction. They had hoped and thought that life was going to be better for future generations.
Myself and my partner Mike, a journalist who is a child of the 60s, are very worried about the current situation facing our world and although he is struggling with a severe lung disease, he believes that we can still stand up and push back on the negative forces and right-wing movements.
To keep him cheered up, every once in a while, I bake him Emmy’s chocolate cake recipe and today I am sharing it here with you. It is an easy, rich and tasty chocolate cake recipe that you can share with your family and friends, in the memory of my friend Emmy.
Emmy’s chocolate cake recipe starts with preheating an oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Then mix two cups of flour, a cup of white sugar and half a teaspoon of salt in a bowl. Then in a second bowl mix four tablespoons of cocoa, a cup of Miracle Whip, two teaspoons of baking soda and a teaspoon of vanilla.
Pour the cocoa mixture into the flour together with a cup of cold coffee and mix it all well. Lastly, pour the batter into a prepared bundt cake pan, or pan of your choice and bake it for 50 minutes.
Emmy always insisted on homemade frosting. To make it, melt 1/4 cup of unsalted butter and three squares of unsweetened chocolate over a second pot of hot water and stir to blend. In a bowl mix two and a quarter cups of fine confectioners’ sugar with 1/4 teaspoon of salt and slowly add in a 1/3 cup of warmed milk. Then add the chocolate mixture and mix a teaspoon of vanilla extract until you get a creamy consistency.
As a child of the depression era, Emmy was sparing with her frosting, which is why I often double this part of the recipe. On these cold winter nights and having to listen to the latest sad news of war and climate change horrors, Emmy’s chocolate cake at least makes the world feel a little better.
Photo of Xavier Kataquapit baking a chocolate cake.