Pyrex and Poppies: 10 Ways to Make Your Baking Taste Just Like Your Grandma's

I have been wanting to write this particular blog post for a very long time! It is something I think about every time someone tells me my baking is delicious and the thought that goes through my head is "I just followed the directions" or "All I did was set the timer". These seem to be simple enough to me, but I am aware that not everyone grew up in a house where literally all the women dreamed of opening their own bakery. The women in my family bake! I love that! I love that the shape of my hands is the same as my mom's, and grandma's, and great-grandma's (even though I never met her), and that all of us have used them for the same purpose. So cool! So here is goes, along with some pictures of my favorite bakers :)

10 Ways to Make Your Baking Taste Just Like Your Grandma's:

1. Call your mom and your grandma. Ask them for all the family recipes they have. Be sure to write down who was best known for making it and who liked it the best! Recipe books are great things to pass down through the generations. I am still bummed that a fire burned all the recipes my great-great grandma used and I am pretty far removed from that now. Old recipes make you feel so connected to the past. Which brings me to point two...

2. Embrace your heritage. Actually make the recipes. Even if you don't like it. They are a part of your family...like it or not...and fifty years ago your grandpa's mother made him Springerle and he loved it. And you basically hate it because it tastes like black licorice (gross). But if you make it for him, he will flash back to a time when his mom was alive and could make him special birthday treats. I don't know about you, but I hope someone I love will make me special treats from my childhood when I am old, and sit there with me and enjoy it. Even if they don't.

3. Follow the recipe EXACTLY! Now is not the time to get fancy with healthy ingredients or substitutions. You don't need to reinvent the wheel. On that note...

4. If the recipe calls for oleo...use oleo (margarine). Back in the day when there were wars and such, and people had rations on sugar and butter (seriously...we are so lucky), they used oleo. Things fall apart when you use butter in a recipe that calls for oleo. Trust me. Plus, oleo is really fun to say!

5. Use imitation vanilla. I know I am going to get crap for this, but I don't care. Real vanilla is SO strong. Imitation vanilla is so light and subtle. It's perfect! If you must use real vanilla, use less of it. I give you permission to make this one substitution.

6. Measure all ingredients accurately. Level off that measuring cup. Pack your brown sugar, DON'T pack your flour. Use measuring spoons. Especially for salt, soda, and baking powder. It also doesn't really matter if you use a dry measuring cup for a liquid and vice versa. Just so you know. Go ahead and grab whatever is clean.

7. Use salted butter. Even if the recipe calls for unsalted butter. When I asked my mom why she uses salted butter her reply was "Unsalted butter sounds like they removed something from the butter, and I never like the idea of that." Makes sense to me! I ONLY buy salted butter and it has never failed me yet.

8. SET. THE. TIMER. It will not fail that you will get distracted. The phone will ring. You will be too absorbed in a magazine. You might fall asleep in the sunshine. You need a timer.

9. Get an over thermometer. You might set your oven to 350 degrees...but I guarantee that it will not be 350 degrees.

10. Give your baking away. You probably don't need to eat seven dozen pumpkin cookies...even if you REALLY want to. Give it away and watch people's days brighten. Watch them smile and say "thank you" and chow down. It is so fulfilling. They feel appreciated and honored that you would think about little old them. And that is a good feeling!

And there you have it! Not too hard to do I don't think! You can do it! Take a breath, pour a glass of orange juice, pull out your favorite pyrex bowls and duck measuring cups, slap on a vintage apron, and bake to your hearts content!