All in the Family

My Captain Kitchen training began early.  Pictured above is my great-grandmother Bessie and 2-and-a-half-year-old me, making her famous sour cream cookies.  I developed my kitchen energy, finesse and skills by simply watching my great-grandmother, grandmother and mother cook and bake. They are all fabulous cooks and entertainers, no doubt the Captains of their own kitchens. 

We all have the recipe for sour cream cookies - it is very precisely written down in Bessie's handwriting on an index card - yet only one person (my mother) has been able to make them to perfection. What the written recipe lacks is directions for the tone required in the kitchen while making them, something my mother obviously picked up on as a kid, watching her Grandma Bessie at the helm. The recent acquisition of the above photo has inspired me to try my hand at them, flying solo for the first time. I've asked my mother for a copy of the original recipe and will make my valiant attempt. In fact, the pyrex mixing bowl Bessie and I are using in the photo is in my possession, and so I have high hopes for the outcome.  

If you claim to not be able to cook, just watch someone who does. I still do it when I visit my mother and grandmother, and am constantly learning new techniques, styles and combinations.

Stay tuned for a report on the outcome of the sour creams.