Macaroons and Voices from the Past.
It's said that 50 years after our deaths, that nobody will remember the sound of our voices.
My sister wrote me today to tell me she found a videotape of my mother baby-talking my new niece. No pics of my mother herself, just the baby and her voice. My sister didn't remember till hearing the video that our mom had a thicker-than-crabcakes Baltimore ("Balamer") accent even decades after leaving that city and living all over the United States. Eleven years and she'd forgotten something that fundamental about our mother. Imagine what nobody will remember eleven years from now. It's terribly humbling to think about. The Ancient Greeks reckoned that the only real immortality people get is to be remembered, and I'm realizing anew how right they are.
Also, I made coconut cookies yesterday from a recipe from a cookbook that one of my grandmothers got when she got married. It's such a festival of crazy, oddly maternal advice ("Cooking isn't something you can just pick up" sort of admonitions), but the recipes are short, interesting, and actually really good. Here you go.
Coconut Kisses
(From "Woman's World Cook Book," 1939)
4 egg whites
1/2 pound powdered sugar
1/2 tsp lemon extract
Moist coconut, about 1/2 a bag
(I added about 1/2 cup almond meal for structure and a little cream of tartar for stability, also a couple drops of vanilla and Fiore di Sicilia flavoring)
Beat the egg-whites and cream of tartar stiff, add the sugar (not all at once or it'll go everywhere) and beat till light and white. Add the flavorings and almond meal, then as much coconut as seems appropriate for the texture you want--you can't really go wrong here. Drop on a pan covered in parchment paper by the spoonful (they won't spread much so the size you drop is the size you get) and bake in a slow oven (250-300F) until they get a bit of a golden tinge, 15-25 minutes. You can't really go wrong here by using a lower heat, but too high of a heat or too long baking will turn them into campfire marshmallows. Like most meringue treats, they'll look a little soft when they're barely browned, but they'll be done; pull them out and get them onto a rack immediately. If you're really not sure if they're done yet when they look a little golden, then leave them in the oven but turn it off; by the time the oven's cooled down, they'll be fine. Just don't overcook them.
We ate most of them already but the ones that remain are getting a dip in melted chocolate later today and maybe some almonds topping them for homemade Almond Joy candies.
I'm fine, we're all here, got a new pain medication to try out and I'm still convinced my doctor's feeding me placebos. Also Puff's new habit is to sleep on the bed with the humans at night, but he's 20+ pounds now and reeeeeeeeally unsure about all that potentially moveable terrain so he demands about half the bed to feel secure. It'd be funny if I had a larger bed, but it's a Full and this is not working out.
My sister wrote me today to tell me she found a videotape of my mother baby-talking my new niece. No pics of my mother herself, just the baby and her voice. My sister didn't remember till hearing the video that our mom had a thicker-than-crabcakes Baltimore ("Balamer") accent even decades after leaving that city and living all over the United States. Eleven years and she'd forgotten something that fundamental about our mother. Imagine what nobody will remember eleven years from now. It's terribly humbling to think about. The Ancient Greeks reckoned that the only real immortality people get is to be remembered, and I'm realizing anew how right they are.
Also, I made coconut cookies yesterday from a recipe from a cookbook that one of my grandmothers got when she got married. It's such a festival of crazy, oddly maternal advice ("Cooking isn't something you can just pick up" sort of admonitions), but the recipes are short, interesting, and actually really good. Here you go.
Coconut Kisses
(From "Woman's World Cook Book," 1939)
4 egg whites
1/2 pound powdered sugar
1/2 tsp lemon extract
Moist coconut, about 1/2 a bag
(I added about 1/2 cup almond meal for structure and a little cream of tartar for stability, also a couple drops of vanilla and Fiore di Sicilia flavoring)
Beat the egg-whites and cream of tartar stiff, add the sugar (not all at once or it'll go everywhere) and beat till light and white. Add the flavorings and almond meal, then as much coconut as seems appropriate for the texture you want--you can't really go wrong here. Drop on a pan covered in parchment paper by the spoonful (they won't spread much so the size you drop is the size you get) and bake in a slow oven (250-300F) until they get a bit of a golden tinge, 15-25 minutes. You can't really go wrong here by using a lower heat, but too high of a heat or too long baking will turn them into campfire marshmallows. Like most meringue treats, they'll look a little soft when they're barely browned, but they'll be done; pull them out and get them onto a rack immediately. If you're really not sure if they're done yet when they look a little golden, then leave them in the oven but turn it off; by the time the oven's cooled down, they'll be fine. Just don't overcook them.
We ate most of them already but the ones that remain are getting a dip in melted chocolate later today and maybe some almonds topping them for homemade Almond Joy candies.
I'm fine, we're all here, got a new pain medication to try out and I'm still convinced my doctor's feeding me placebos. Also Puff's new habit is to sleep on the bed with the humans at night, but he's 20+ pounds now and reeeeeeeeally unsure about all that potentially moveable terrain so he demands about half the bed to feel secure. It'd be funny if I had a larger bed, but it's a Full and this is not working out.