How to Love Your Mother

“The seconds after she finishes preparing a meal, and the moment before she sits down, my mother is always the most tender.”

So writes one of DailyMade‘s dear readers.  THANK YOU FOR READING AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR NOTE!  I entreat all of you to send questions, comments, anecdotes about how cuisine/gastronomy is important in your life.  Your feedback inspires me to keep writing.

That being said, I would like to take a minute to describe, with all the sincerity I can muster, the gastronomical sensibilities of the woman who made me the first meals of my life.  She is my mother, an athlete, an educator, not quite a gourmand.  I say this without insult!  My mother worked hard to put nutritious meals on the table when we had little money to spend, and while some of it I remember quite fondly (Duncan Hines triple chocolate brownies), there are other dishes I am happy to have forgotten until this very moment (Tuna Noodle Casserole).  How many of you can remember that messy mélange of canned tuna fish, cream of mushroom soup and egg noodles thrown into a ceramic dish and baked til bubbly every Wednesday night?  It’s something I remember with horror, like prepubescent shots at the doctor or my first and only afternoon in detention.

My mother is hardly retro, in fact she’s the most techno-savvy woman I know, but her cooking is an honest throwback to the 1950’s: cream of mushroom; American cheese; pyrex bakeware.  I love her for it, and was even thankful to have an American counter to my father’s oysters and ‘rocky mountain oysters’ (if you don’t know what those are I’ll spare you).  A few years ago she cautiously revealed that food is fuel to her, that she never lived to eat like my grandmother and I do.

Since it is her birthday, I decided to send a homeade version of her favorite dessert– OREO COOKIES– which I found a delightful little recipe for on smittenkitchen.  Enjoy and send to your mama!

1. Set your oven racks to the middle of the oven, and preheat to 375º

2. Mix 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour with 1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa,  tsp. baking soda and 1/4 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp. salt, and 1 cup sugar. Add 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. unsalted room-temperature butter, and then an egg. Mix until dough comes together in a mass.

3. Place dough on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.  I say smaller cookies are better, but some like the oreos rather large.  Bake for 9 minutes, and rotate half-way through for even baking.

4.  While cookies are baking, mix 1/4 cup room-temperature unsalted butter with 1/4 cup vegetable shortening and 2 cups confectioners’ sugar.  Add 2 tsp. vanilla extract — I used Dominican style (clear) imitation, because I think its scent is closer to that of actual oreos.

4. Once the cookies have baked, let them on a rack to cool, and then assemble your sandwiches!  Then send ’em to your mama!