Monday, November 20, 2006
Recipes
One of my favorite things is making a dish that is better than it actually tastes. The surest way to do this is to think back to your childhood, and pull out a recipe that used to be made by someone who is no longer there to preheat the oven or drop the dough onto ungreased cookie sheets.
The kids next door were one year older and one year younger than me. Originally I played with Jake, but at some point, started hanging out with Dave. Their mom, Kathy, was the quintessential mom. When I needed a haircut before the start of summer camp, and the barber shop was closed... it was Kathy. She was also a baker of great local repute (amongst pre-teen boys). The pinnacle was when she made us baked Christmas ornaments in the shape of football players and painted them with our favorite pittsburgh steelers. I got Franco Harris. Yes... it was a while ago.
The favorite thing she baked to eat, though, was GOBS. For people not from Western PA, they have been described as "homemade Suzie-Qs", or "happy cakes". One native Ohioan referred to them as "ding-dongs," but that may have been a joke at my expense.
So recently I dusted off the old recipe (or more accurately asked Julie to help me find it) and fired up the oven to 450F. Its about a 4 hour process, so I settled in for a night of baking. During the process, I chuckled inwardly at the icing recipe, that calls for shaking the ingredients in a glass jar. SOOO Kathy. I smiled as I lifted the baked cakes from the cookie sheet.
You see, Kathy passed away from cancer about 5 years ago. She left behind a good man in her husband, and my two childhood friends as new husbands, young fathers, and without one of the key lights of their lives. So when I eat a "GOB" I smile and think of Kathy. I also think of all those other recipes, that are a delicious and happy way to remember friends whose talents formerly tickled our palates.
So this Thanksgiving I will make Nana's pumpkin pie recipe, and carefully avoid Susan Stanberg's mother-in-law's cranberry relish recipe. I might even make a batch of my mother-in-laws best in class chocolate chip cookies.
The Nostalgic Gourmet ¶ 11:34 AM
One of my favorite things is making a dish that is better than it actually tastes. The surest way to do this is to think back to your childhood, and pull out a recipe that used to be made by someone who is no longer there to preheat the oven or drop the dough onto ungreased cookie sheets.
The kids next door were one year older and one year younger than me. Originally I played with Jake, but at some point, started hanging out with Dave. Their mom, Kathy, was the quintessential mom. When I needed a haircut before the start of summer camp, and the barber shop was closed... it was Kathy. She was also a baker of great local repute (amongst pre-teen boys). The pinnacle was when she made us baked Christmas ornaments in the shape of football players and painted them with our favorite pittsburgh steelers. I got Franco Harris. Yes... it was a while ago.
The favorite thing she baked to eat, though, was GOBS. For people not from Western PA, they have been described as "homemade Suzie-Qs", or "happy cakes". One native Ohioan referred to them as "ding-dongs," but that may have been a joke at my expense.
So recently I dusted off the old recipe (or more accurately asked Julie to help me find it) and fired up the oven to 450F. Its about a 4 hour process, so I settled in for a night of baking. During the process, I chuckled inwardly at the icing recipe, that calls for shaking the ingredients in a glass jar. SOOO Kathy. I smiled as I lifted the baked cakes from the cookie sheet.
You see, Kathy passed away from cancer about 5 years ago. She left behind a good man in her husband, and my two childhood friends as new husbands, young fathers, and without one of the key lights of their lives. So when I eat a "GOB" I smile and think of Kathy. I also think of all those other recipes, that are a delicious and happy way to remember friends whose talents formerly tickled our palates.
So this Thanksgiving I will make Nana's pumpkin pie recipe, and carefully avoid Susan Stanberg's mother-in-law's cranberry relish recipe. I might even make a batch of my mother-in-laws best in class chocolate chip cookies.
The Nostalgic Gourmet ¶ 11:34 AM
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I have so many wonderful food memories. Maybe that's why I like cooking so much. I remember getting up early on Saturday to fire up the smoker, and we'd cook some chickens and sausage. And Saturday morning pancakes. Those were good days. Mom's fried chicken, carrot cake from Mueller's Bakery (Houston-specific memory), homemade ice cream with fresh peaches... the list goes on. I need to put on some weight.
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