Sharon Kennedy

As I write this, rain is falling at a steady pace and the day is gloomy. It’s the perfect weather for baking a cake or cookies or even a loaf of bread, but here I am at the keyboard instead of in my kitchen. As soon as I finish this column, I’ll tie on one of Mom’s aprons and get out a cookbook. Like some of you, every now and then I bake something new instead of the same old standbys.

Only problem is, I’m usually the only one who likes my new recipes. My brother and his daughter like my standard fare, but I get tired of the same old things. One of my hobbies is collecting cookbooks. I have stacks of them scattered throughout this trailer, but one thing I’ve noticed is most of them have variations on the same recipe.

There aren’t too many different ways to make chocolate chip cookies. True, you can vary the amount of chips and nuts or add milk chocolate chips or white ones, but they aren’t chocolate at all just a mixture of sugar and palm oil. I like peanut butter cookies and have a fabulous recipe I’ve used for years, so I’m not going to mess with it. Oatmeal cookies are a standard. Sometimes I add raisins, nuts, or butterscotch chips, but there’s not much else to add unless you make a giant cookie full of peanuts and M&Ms and other candies that more or less take away from the oatmeal.

I also cook for my brother. Neither of us is partial to meat or poultry so my favorite replacements are quinoa, bulgur, lentils, wild rice and a variety of other grains and grasses. You’d be surprised at the tasty dishes that can result from the use of these ancient staples. When I first started cooking vegetarian, I chose soy products but I quit that when I realized soy is genetically modified to the point of being dangerous to your health.

One day a friend gave me a recipe for meatless meatloaf. I know that sounds oxymoronic, but when eggs and bread crumbs are added to the rice and grain mixture, you’d be hard pressed to notice the lack of hamburger. Okay, maybe you wouldn’t, but take my word for it. It’s good if you can get it to stay together long enough to cut into slices, and it’s great the next day for a fried meatloaf sandwich.

When my daughter was a little girl, I slowly started introducing new foods. I read somewhere that millet was a tasteless seed so I figured I would cook it as a side dish and add some frozen peas, one of Stephanie’s favorite vegetables. She was probably seven and willing to try whatever I put on her plate. When she saw the millet she recognized it as bird seed. Although it’s full of nutrition, that was my first and last attempt at serving it unless it was camouflaged in something else. The way I prepared it, even the sparrows would have turned up their beaks.

Ten years ago I made a lentil and brown rice “hamburger” for my brother. I put the usual condiments on it–sweet relish, spicy mustard, ketchup, and a slice of Vidalia onion–and I toasted the bun. I thought Ed would be pleased, but when he tasted it, he removed the onion and fed the “burger” to his dog. He’s since come to appreciate my style of cooking, but every now and then when he’s in town, he slips off to Wendy’s and enjoys a real hamburger or bowl of chili just to give his taste buds a break from grains and grasses.

But back to today. I feel the need to bake something sweet. You know how it is. A meal isn’t complete unless there’s a tasty treat waiting at the end of it, especially if you’re only consuming a salad. I don’t have ice cream so there’s no point in baking a cake, but I think I’ll try my hand at German Lebkuchen cookies. I made them when I was a young bride. My memory tells me they turned out hard as bricks, but maybe today I’ll have better luck with a different recipe.

I have all the ingredients I need because I always keep a well-stocked pantry which isn’t a pantry at all except a few shelves in my cupboard. I like the word “pantry” because we had one when I was young, and the sound of it brings back pleasant memories. Mom always had something good for dessert in the pantry. It wasn’t unusual for us kids to raid it the minute we got in the house after a long day at school.

I’m a little on the lazy side today so instead of hunting for a recipe in one of my cookbooks, I’ll turn to Google. With some modifications, “Shae’s Mama” looks interesting. I’ll skip the fruit and overnight refrigeration and add wheat germ or flax seed if the batter’s too soft. I’ll hope for the best as I drop globs on the cookie sheet instead of rolling the dough out as recommended.

I always change recipes, but I don’t think Shae’s mother will mind. When the cookies are ready, I’ll think of you as I dunk my Lebkuchen in my coffee. Wish you were here to join me.

Editor’s note: Sharon M. Kennedy of Brimley is a humorist who infuses her musings with a hardy dose of matriarchal common sense. She writes about everyday experiences most of us have encountered at one time or another on our journey through life. Her articles are a combination of present day observations and nostalgic glances of the past. She can be reached via email at sharonkennedy1947@gmail.com. In addition, Sharon has compiled a collection of stories from her various newspaper columns. The title of her book is “Life in a Tin Can.” Copies are available from Snowbound Books on North Third Street in Marquette.