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Friday, April 19, 2019

Inspired to Bake

Easter is just days away. My kitchen fills with the sights and smells of Holy Week baking just like my mother and grandmother's kitchens before me. I recall these women, my creative baking mentors whose hands lovingly crafted honey dolls fashioned out of dough, Easter bunny cakes with just the right amount of coconut, and mounds of delicious cookies. Their artistry was well known in their neighborhoods. Remembering the Easters of my life, I bake for family and friends to celebrate the spiritual and temporal joys of the Easter season.

Messy baking tins, bowls filled with different colored frosting, and platters of chocolate dipped cookies waiting for the finishing touches are lined up. From my mother and grandmother, I learned that the presentation stage is an important part of the creative process. 

Usually, I take photos of my finished creations but there was such a rush this morning that I had no time to photograph the Easter week treats that were carefully placed in an open weave, spring-green plastic basket laced with a pink bow. Easter filler was placed in the bottom of the basket. On top of this, I stacked chewy brownies, different varieties of chocolate chip cookies, and Easter eggs of brownie dough covered in yellow, buttercream frosting with a touch of Triple Sec, and finished with a layer of coconut. I was pleased with the presentation and so were the recipients.



Baking by Phoebe Boswall is a fitting poem that shares the experience of baking and remembering a loved one. 

Smells of baking remind me of you.
Your red apron, my small striped one with the torn pocket.
Your soft stretched skin, fingers kneading dough
into a ball. My fat floury hands
grasped for your amber necklace,
Quick, Phoebe, the oven.

You played with flavours,
made little blobs of buttery dough on the tray
Your warm kitchen my safe haven.

You can read the rest of the poem here.

Image result for undecorated easter bunny sugar cookies

Smells of baking remind me of you,
Anise seeds, almond extract, sweet honey,
they lift my senses, taking me back to childhood-
little fingers stroking an oversized rolling pin,
playing baker, standing by your side on summer days.
Your warm kitchen, small for modern day baking,
was my childhood playground and learning ground.
I remember your wisdom with each cookie I create.
©CV, 2019

I join the delightful, children poet, Amy Vanderwater at The Poem Farm for the Poetry Friday Roundup as National Poetry Month continues.


18 comments:

  1. "kitchen perfume"- perfection! Happy Easter, Carol.

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    1. Kimberly, I always remembered the sweet smells of my Nonnie and my mother's kitchen when baking. This thought carried me through many a messy baking happening. The line, kitchen perfume, came to me from my memories. I was delighted for this thought and hoped it would be recognized as a just right fit. Thank you for mentioning this.

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  2. The power of food and cooking ties us together...with apron strings of love.

    This post is making me think very differently about my student's request yesterday for some of my recipes. It seemed so random when she asked -- nothing specific, just things I love to cook -- but now I can see it as her way of asking for a connection that will last beyond 5th grade. When she cooks the foods I love, she'll be keeping our relationship alive. She probably couldn't articulate that, but it's what I'm taking from it. In fact, our whole class food story/recipe book project has just taken on greater meaning as well...

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    1. This gave me goosebumps. Wow. Please write a poem about that. As for those recipe books...treasures! xx

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    2. Mary Lee, one year my class interviewed every staff member for their favorite recipe & the story behind it for a school cookbook. It is/was a treasure for us all. I love hearing about your class cookbook, know it too will last long beyond school!

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  3. I so enjoy the way you describe your kitchen and the joy of baking for loved ones. It is special....and its own kind of miracle that individual ingredients can be combined to form something sweet to eat. And, I really connect with the stage of thinking you describe....the women of your past as you now, prepare treats...with the idea that you too will pass on this practice of Easter. It's all just beautiful. Thank you for sharing such tender and sweet reflective moments with us.

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  4. "I remember your wisdom with each cookie I create." Sigh....
    This Easter I remember Mark's grandmother who baked such wonderful treats all year, and especially at Easter. We head to Buffalo's Broadway Market today, an amazing feast for the eyes of pierogi, Ukrainian eggs, kielbasa, chocolate covered Peeps...everything! Thank you for your poem and for Phoebe's. Just beautiful and filling my heart this Good Friday. xx

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  5. Thank you for this. I have many fond memories of baking with family - those older than me and now gone, and those younger than me. These days I try to let my 22 month old granddaughter become part of the process. It's pure joy although it isn't always easy!

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    1. Cheriee, memories live on in our kitchen as we create our confections. I would love to know hear more about how your 22-month-old grandbaby finds the process of standing by her grandma baking.

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  6. What a delicious post! I can imagine all the good smells in your kitchen and picture all the wonderful treats you made for the holiday. Anything one makes is made all the sweeter when laced with fond memories. Happy Easter weekend!

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  7. I love all those "kitchen perfumes!" I anticipate a busy baking day tomorrow here...thanks for sharing!

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  8. Love your descriptions of those choclately goodies in your own Easter basket, Carol. Happy Easter to you and your family!

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    1. Happy Easter to you, too, Linda. It is always a wonderful experience to bake and write about it. We can't wait to see our little grandbaby. Off to Virginia after my son gets out from work.

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  9. Oh, I love every memory you've evoked with your words and your kitchen creations. "Smells of baking remind me of you..." This line takes me back to my mama's kitchen. What a gift you give with your treats and your words. Thanks, Carol!

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  10. I also have treasured memories of my grandmother's kitchen. Thank you for sharing yours, Carol, and for sharing Phoebe Boswall's wonderful poem. Happy Easter to you and your family!

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    1. Happy Easter to you too, Catherine. Easter Weekend will be filled with the aromas of the kitchen and the spirituality of Easter morning Mass while we visit my grandbaby.

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  11. That Easter Bunny Cake with the coconut sounds fabulous, and your descriptions have brought me right into your kitchen. Thanks also for Phoebe Boswall's poem. Happy Easter to you and your family Carol!

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