kuchen
today, i spent the day at my parents’ house, making german cookies with my mom.
she’s teaching me how to make some of her most-loved confections.
many were also the favourites among the ones my grandmother used to bake.
we used the ancient german scale to measure ingredients.
i cracked eggs and adjusted mixer speeds and spooned clumps of dough onto parchment paper.
we both stood at the oven and waited in anticipation of the finished product.
eight long minutes.
then, the cookies emerged... golden brown on the outside, chewy and light gold on the inside.
perfect.
i dumped them into a huge plastic bowl, where they were coated – by hand, one cookie at a time – with a thick, lemon-flavoured meringue.
the cookies went back into the oven so the meringue could dry out.
once again, we waited.
once again, perfect.
i felt very proud, and my mom smiled each time i said, “they turned out SO well!”
and, as we cleaned up, i thought about my grandmother – my mom’s mom, from whom the original recipe came.
and i imagined her teaching my mom how to make the cookies, just as my mom was teaching me.
and i wondered if i would ever teach someone else.
6 comments:
I am so happy your cookies turned out so well, and that you got to spend time with your mom, and I don't know if one day you will teach someone to bake those cookies, but you teach all sorts of things to a lot of us who read what you write.
thanks {{{{{{{{moob}}}}}}}}. :-)
Connie hits on the important thing here--spending time together. When women pass along kitchen secrets, they pass the recipe but also the culture and, most importantly, all that conversation that takes place during the measuring, whipping, and waiting. If you want to pass this along to another woman, you will. In the meantime, make kuchen once in a while so you don't forget. :)
((((((((*vickie*))))))))
I like this entry lots.
thanks, {{{{{{{*lou*}}}}}}}.
sometimes, when something happens in life and i know i'm going to use it as a blog entry later, i think "how would lou write about this?"
and then i write. :-)
well if the subject is ever frittata......think of me. ;¬}
(i know what you mean)
Aw. Shucks.
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