November/December 2005

Care Package Christmas

Ideas and tips for sharing a taste of home with folks far away

By Patrick Evans-Hylton

I often think about the story of the time my grandmother did her patriotic duty and packaged up a bundle of love from home to send to her husband (my grandfather) overseas.

It was World War II, and patriotism was running at a fevered pitch by 1944. In addition to staying home and saving ration stamps for sugar and meat, canning vegetables for wintertime meals and conserving everything from kitchen grease to aluminum foil, many people on the home front sent care packages to soldiers.

My grandmother was no exception, sending cookies and cakes and letters galore, all to let my grandfather, a Marine, know she and my father and aunt were thinking of him.

But one well-intentioned package never quite made it: a homemade, tangy-sweet lemon pie with mile-high meringue. I’m sure if my grandmother had paused and thought about it before that pie was placed in a box, wrapped in brown kraft paper and tied in twine, she wouldn’t have sent it.

Not only did the poor pie shift and slide and shake in transit across the country, but, about the time it hit the 100-plus degrees of the South Pacific, it melted into a soupy mix of sugar-sludge and oozed from the box.

For as long as there have been wars fought on foreign lands and students going away to college or camp, there have been care packages. Some as simple as a small box of oatmeal-raisin cookies and others elaborate containers with baked goods, toiletries, books and clothing.

For the rest of this story, including cooking tips and recipes, see the November/December 2005 issue of Hampton Roads Magazine, currently available on newsstands.