As I have mentioned before, I am a novice baker with aspirations far greater than current abilities allow. But I come from a long line of excellent bakers. My grandmother is perhaps the greatest of them all.
Just so you know, Granny isn't the typical warm and fuzzy, stay at home cooking all day granny. Grandmother Helen likes to drive stick-shift sports cars. At 83 years old, she is still a very successful Avon salesperson. She travels by herself several times a year and made the journey twice to Kenya on her own when I was growing up there. She is adventurous, intelligent and fiercely independent - all of the character traits I hope to embody some day. She is also epically secretive about her trademark recipes - those decadent and devilishly delicious desserts that we moan in ecstasy over during the holidays and other special occasions.
To this day, I don't know what makes her apple pie the best. My mother and I are both very proud of the apple pies we serve and both have been complimented to no end on various occasions, however, in a blind taste test, Granny's pie will win out every time.
As she approaches the middle of her 80's I think Granny is finally starting to get to the point where she is ready to release her iron-fisted grip on her trademark recipes. This past year, I got a little misty-eyed when, for my birthday, she sent me not only her coveted Red Velvet Cake recipe that has been passed down from mother to mother since the beginning of the 20th century, but she also sent me recipes for some 30's, 40's and 50's era recipes, including an incredible recipe for Tomato Soup Cake, which sounds disgusting, but is actually quite nice. She also sent Victorian Lace Cake, Mayonnaise Quick Bread and an assortment of other odd, but delicious recipes.
So be on the lookout for some mid-20th century recipe reviews to come your way over the next few months.
It will be keen, groovy, and above all else, the cats pajamas.
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