I have always prided myself in being able to bake. I grew up spending a ton of time with my grandmother (Nana) who could do no wrong in the kitchen. We spent hours together making hand cranked pasta, cakes, cookies, chocolates, and homemade rose vinegar (if you haven’t tried it, you should, I was 13 before I realized there was any other type of vinegar). I didn’t get her green thumb but I thought I got some of her cooking skills. The past couple of weeks have certainly made me question that. I seem to destroy even the simplest of recipes. Last week I made fluffy tasteless chocolate chip cookies and last night I made cake like sugar cookies. They seemed perfect when I was shaping them.
You see I am typically a cake/bread type of girl. I have an oatmeal lace cookie that family begs for, a banana walnut bread that is to die for, and a coconut cake recipe that, if I do say so, is the bomb. I would always request the cake for my birthday. I thought I had the real recipe but when Nana passed, and I got her recipe box, I found five different versions. I had to try every single one to figure out which cake was the real recipe (hint- it was a combination of all five). Southern women have a habit of changing little things before handing off recipes, yes even grandmothers to their only granddaughters, the kitchen can be a cold, harsh place.
Why have I deviated from what I am good at? Well I have this adorable boyfriend, who due to a freak medical issue can no longer eat some key ingredients- mainly nuts, chocolate, bananas or dairy. So I have been trying to master recipes he can eat. Hence the cake like sugar cookies. While their flavor was delicious the texture was all wrong. I tried to slightly make up for it by being totally cheesy with the last batch.
No comments:
Post a Comment