Popular on Food52
5 Comments
Sabine
May 14, 2017
Don´t know what I love more here: your mother´s recipe, or the way you introduce us to it, praising her way of bringing you kids together around the table and her passion for baking. With this article, you must have made her the perfect m´s day gift!
judy
May 13, 2017
Looks amazing. I had the same question about baking powder. 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp I would imagine is what you were going for. Now about my Mom and cooking. Sadly, she didn't cook. My dad did a few things like steak on Saturday night, WITHOUT FAIL. Took me a few decades to want to eat steak after I grew up. My Dad also did parties--huge parties for summer and New Year's Eve. But everyday cooking. No one did. And that is how I learned to cook. We grew up on government commodities like grated parmesan cheese (like the kind in the green canister), eggs, cheddar cheese, and bread. Lots of al of those. I make the most amazing black pepper and parmesan pasta (cace de pepe?--I can't remember the current fancy name going around) long before it was fashionable. Still do. By the time I was 8 years old I made meals 4 nights a week. That was my main chore--but I also had to clean up and make sure my brother and sister did their chores as well. But I loved to cook. I soon learned that if I wanted a sweet, I would have to make it myself. And I learned to bake. I was finally given permission to bake one thing a week on Saturday. It was the family treat that week. Oatmeal cookies, bread pudding ( with powdered milk-as that was a commodity as well as the oatmeal). I learned to make a treat out of whatever came in the commodity box that week. We had a staple recipe that was a take on kedgeree with egg, rice, tuna, canned evaporated milk and canned curry powder. i still remember the HUGE -at least to me- can of curry powder that we got one week. Mom made kedgeree on Sunday nights for a year. It wasn't until I was in my 50's and I explored Indian cooking that I learned how close and how far my Mom was with this dish. I now make the proper Indian version of this. But hers was homey and delicious. My brother still makes that for his kids. So I guess Kedgeree is my best Mom food item that I remember. But the gift of learning how to cook and bake, because neither of them did. That is the best memory of a lifetime. It has brought me joy, fun, release, lots of well received food gifts. And my kids are both pretty good cooks as I made sure they have food memories from thier Mom. I didn't want them to miss out. Except Tim (my youngest) and I were talking a few weeks back. About decorated sugar cookies. We never made them. He wishes we had. You see, I have NO artistic talent. And both my kids are artists. So he is beginning his own tradition for his kids......
See what other Food52 readers are saying.