I couldn’t resist writing a reflection when I heard that this year’s Advent Blog theme was, “Taste and see that the Lord is good,” because that is the title of the La Sierra University Church Community Services cookbook that was published several years ago by volunteers, led by my grandma, Ruth Fagal, PhD. It was a labor of love to raise funds for Community Services’ food pantry and Grandma made sure to put many of her treasured recipes in it, including a few from her New England ancestors.
2024 was our last Thanksgiving and Christmas with her and many of our memories center around Grandma’s love for having people around her table. I share my interest in recipes and cookbooks with her.
Most people may not know that Taste and See was the second community cookbook on which she served as head of the committee. The first was Faculty Fare by the Faculty Fair by LAMBDA PHI “Ladies of the Faculty,” La Sierra College in May 1966. Recipes were attributed to Mrs. (insert husband’s name) except for a couple of contributions by single women like art professor Chloe Sofsky. There is a copy of Faculty Fare in the Heritage Room of the La Sierra University Fritz Guy Library and once in a while you can find a copy at an estate sale or one of the church resale shops.
There is one recipe that represents the holidays in my family and it is called Cranberry Squares. Grandma always made a batch before Thanksgiving and we ate them until they were gone, sometime around Christmas. They are like a bar cookie containing a tart filling of boiled cranberries, raisins, and sugar, baked between two layers of Perfect Pie Crust made with just oil, water, flour, and salt. This is the same crust recipe my mom and grandma use for their delicious apple pies. And my mom will only use Mazola corn oil for pie crust. (Use half the ingredients below for one double-crust pie.)
In 2019, I made the cranberry squares in Grandma’s kitchen in La Sierra with her cutting board, her special metal rolling pin just like my mother’s, and her cookie sheets with 1” sides, while she gave me directions on technique from the kitchen table. Suddenly I learned why her crust always had holes patched with extra bits of crust—it’s really hard to roll a rectangle of crust.
We will celebrate Grandma’s life of love, service, and hospitality in the La Sierra University Church sanctuary on Sabbath, January 17, 2026 followed by a reception in Sierra Vista Chapel where she volunteered with Community Services serving Jesus by helping our neighbors.
Cranberry Squares
Ingredients:
- 2 cups cranberries
- 2 cups granulated white sugar
- 2 cups raisins
- 2 Tbsp. flour
- 1 cup water
- ½ tsp. salt
- 4 cups all-purpose flour (for dough)
- 2 tsp. salt
- 1 1/3 cup Mazola corn oil
- 2/3 cup cold water
Instructions:
Step 1: Combine cranberries, sugar, raisins, 2 Tbsp. flour, ½ tsp. salt, and 1 cup water in a large saucepan and cook until the cranberries pop. Set aside to cool.
Step 2: Place the 4 cups flour and tsp. salt in a mixing bowl. In a small bowl or measuring cup, whip the oil and cold water together with a fork until it looks white and is fully combined. Add liquids to the flour mixture and mix with the fork to form a dough.
Step 3: Roll out half of the dough between two sheets of waxed paper of a size to fit a flat pan with ½” sides, approximately 11×16” in size. Remove top sheet of waxed paper and invert one layer of crust in the bottom of the pan, pressing crust against sides of the pan. Spread the cooled filling over this layer of dough. Roll out the remaining dough quite thin and place it over the filling, rolling the top and bottom edges together to close. Patch any missing spots with dough if necessary.
Step 4: Bake at 360 degrees until crust is slightly golden. Cut into squares to serve—ours were probably about 2”x3”. Keep in the refrigerator in an airtight container with waxed paper between the layers.
Christie Cales is a fourth-generation member of the La Sierra University Church. She enjoys being a member of the Journey Sabbath School class and serving as a volunteer.