Monday, December 28, 2015

Cakes and Cookies and Pies, Oh My!

Baking has always been one of my strengths as well as one of my joys. I learned how to make beautiful fruit pies from Gregory, muffins from his mother Helen, cookies from my mother. Cakes are easy enough to figure out if you follow the recipes.

Many beautiful looking, yummy tasting sweets recipes come across my computer and I dutifully make hard copies and file them in my cookbook. During the days when I still read hard copy magazines, I would cut interesting recipes and kept them as well. When visiting a friend who made a delicious dessert I always try to get the recipe for my files.

As I was drifting off to sleep last night, thinking about the wonderful assortment of Christmas goodies I have experienced this season, (made, eaten, seen) I realized that there was a layer of guilt that was trying to introduce itself into my thoughts.

Sugar! Brown sugar! Honey! White flour! Pastry flour! Corn starch! Candied fruit! Dried fruit! Fats! They all have become villains in our ever growing awareness of the waist line dilemma. So that means that most cakes, cookies, cupcakes, pies, pastries, etc have also become villains.

We love our sweets but we feel guilty eating them. And the reality, or science of it, is that the combination of sugars, fats, and salt cause us to become addicted to sweets. One sweet is never enough. One piece of cake or pie, one cookie, leads to another and for some of us, who now and then buy store bought cookies, it leads to eating the entire box in one sitting.

Another problem is that when I do bake something, I do not have anyone living here to share it with. I will bring a piece of whatever down to the person at the front desk, or share with the other building staff, but the guilt again arrives saying, "They don't need any more sweets either!"

And often, as your share-ees are consuming the treat you shared, they are complaining about their waist lines at the same time. "I don't really need this!" "Why are you doing this to me?" "I am overdosed on sweets this holiday season!" ... they say while consuming your well intentioned gift.

So what is the answer? Don't bake? Bake but don't eat? Eat and then vomit, like the Romans? Share most of what you bake? Not sure, maybe the answer is just gain the weight or maybe a better answer is "All things in moderation!"

Mini-Apple Pie Cookies

Rhubarb Pie

Cranberry Walnut Cookies

Peach Pie

Helen's Cranberry Walnut Bran Muffins

Adeline's Chocolate and Vanilla Walnut Balls

Cherry Pie

Chocolate Raisin and Nut Cups

Raspberry Buckle

Raspberry Pie

Blueberry Pie

Rustic Cherry Tart

Rhubarb Pie

Banana Walnut Bread

Great Grandma Barbara's German Christmas Cookies

Peach Pie

Peanut Butter Cookies, Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

 Silk Apple Pie





4 comments:

  1. Oh. My. Goodness.

    I have not yet made our fruitcake.

    Our neighbor gave us home canned apple pie filling, still in the jar.

    Our daughter-in-law sent wedding cookies with lemon in some, orange flavor in others; some kind of wheat chex mixture with nuts, and buckeyes, sweet treats. I cannot leave them alone.

    We should be eating fresh fruit.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jean. Fresh fruit and vegetables! But I wonder how delicious your fruitcake is!

      Delete
  2. You could always invite me over....

    ReplyDelete

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