I love a family recipe secret. My family has tried to capture my grandma's puerto rican rice recipe but it always ends up as "add this, and then add a little that" with no measurements of anything. My dog literally ate the recipe the first time it was documented. It feels like a secret nobody is supposed to know.
I hope one day you can write it down again and master it :) so that you can have your grandmas rice forever :) and share some. We should all have a potluck!
👋 Love this! Fellow baker here. I started baking to save money while a student, but didnt understand why my loafs always became hard ss bricks. it wasn't until I got to learn the craft from my father in-law that i realized the importance of proper hydration. Now my sourdough abd rustic rolls come out pretty desent. I try to follow an 80/20 principle in my busy life so its possible to provide the family and friends with healthy breads. I source all the flower from a nearby mill as the US store flower (even the good ones) are too processed and leave me feeling tired after eating instead of refueled.
Woah!!! That’s amazing. I need to find a mill. I haven’t made bread yet! I’m scared 😬 is bread as hard to make as I’m imagining it to be?? I’ll keep the hydration in mind when I do try making bread. Do you have a good base recipe to share? Do you like to bake any other breads or other treats???
I'm strictly a bread baker and stay away from pastries. They require more "chemistry" which I don't have patience for 😅 I'll try to share my simpler recipes soon, but a top of mind one would be 50/50 all purpose and whole wheat flour with 1:2 ratio water to flour. Bake the bread(s) at 400F for 45 min.
If you'd like to advance, make sure you have a functioning scale (meaning it measures correctly while you pour into he mix) and an electronics thermometer to poke it and verify it's 95C inside when done.
Fun fact: the Norwegian diet consists of 3/4 meals with bread. Usually whole grain.
When I first moved to the US we'd fly with a carry on filled with whole wheat flour from Norway as we couldn't find good alternatives at the time. Always fun going through customs! Once covid hit and we didn't fly for 2 years we found Central Milling north of San Francisco and ordered 50lbs bags from them 😅
This is really really sweet. It also sounds like a fun mystery to solve. And what a somatic experience it sounds like for her. Yiayia is powerful. Actually, anyone in a family that has a special staple recipe, especially for the holidays, holds a lot of power! Their food becomes so tethered to heritage, tradition, and memories.
I think my lack of baking skill is a major flaw on my end. Cooking? No problem. That I can do. It feels much more organic, intuitive, and simple, to me. But, baking is so special! And, in my opinion, everyone that bakes is instantly adorable. It’s still one of my goals to earnestly learn how to do it. Nobody bakes in my immediate family, though, so I think that hasn’t helped. I gotta do it, I gotta be the baker! It just feels like there’s so many steps and things going on. I need to put my years of watching The Food Network and seeing all the baking there to use.
I wish we had cool secret family recipes! But I would love to be able to recreate everything my grandma makes the same way she makes it all. Especially her rice and tamales and pozole. I think it’s the intuitive piece that is missing, though. Because I can use the same ingredients and follow steps, but doing it exactly as she does, in the way it’s engrained in her, is impossible, so getting something to taste EXACTLY like she made it feels hopeless.
For years, I’ve been told to pay attention to how she makes everything, especially the tamales, since I’m the one that makes them with her; that way I’ll be able to make everything like her in the future. But I don’t know, it’ll never be the same. People just have a specific way they do things that’s unique to them; you can see and taste their fingerprint in their food.
And now, all I want is to eat these intuition drenched butter cookies with coffee for a cozy time.
& happy anniversary to Banana Heaven! A favorite. Food is fun! Are there any other recipes or dishes out there in general that you find yourself wanting to master?
Oo I haven’t thought about that but it makes sense that someone who has a special staple recipe in the family holds a lot of power. Yiayia has TOO many, which is good, but also, I’ve only learned 2… and still can’t get them to be the same! So much to learn. I wish I could spend like every Sunday cooking with her. That would probably accelerate my chances of becoming a cozy cute yiayia!
I feel like everyone who cooks is also instantly adorable! I feel like being able to cook or bake are equally magical, equally strong in power too!
I’m excited for you to become the family baker! You will def excel at it. There is def room for experimentation with baking too. What do you want to bake? What will you with all that power?
I’m hopeful that you will be able to make pozole, tamales, and rice like your grandma. I’m sure if you keep spending time cooking with her you’d probably pick up on all her little subtle nuances and you will become her :) think about it, she’s just got so many years experience cooking those tamales. But I also like what you said about how the taste is still unique to her. I wonder if her grandmas tastes different, and she’s trying to achieve that taste too. So you will eventually have your own unique flavor as well that someone will want to emulate in the future :) Is cooking/baking just a never ending generational loop of trying to match our grandparents cooking/baking? 🧐
Man, I love tamales. What do you like to put in them?
YES EAT ALL THE COOKIES! I still have to make you some and send em.
I want to make everything in Alison Roman’s new desert book called “Sweet Enough.” I got it in the summer but only made one recipe at thanksgiving: the caramelized maple tart. It’s fab. I may make it again for Christmas lol or try something newwwwwww??????
I also want to learn how to make more of Yiayia’s sweets. She makes a fab Ravini (a farina flour cake with honey syrup, so simple, so texture, so mmmm) and Finikia (a soft cookie made with honey, orange juice, cinnamon and walnuts. But you don’t taste the orange juice at all). I need more yiayia baking time.
You should probably give up everything in life and just devote all your time entirely to cooking and baking with Yiayia. It's the only way to reach mastery. Then you will be the Keeper of the Cookies.
Usually the standard red/green chile tamales with pork, but I also love when we do rajas con queso, which is jalapeños (or poblano peppers) with cheese. There's also sweet versions of tamales, instead of these savory ones, but I feel like we've only made those once?
The caramelized maple tart sounds like a banger. Why not that and something new?!
You should give yourself an Alison Roman challenge and pick one recipe to make each week! I still have to check out that book.
This makes me nostalgic and also crave these treats I’ve never had! I love when people have recipes only they seem to make. I also hate when I struggle to emulate them. Such a lovely story!
My MIL is coming over a few days before Christmas just so she can show us how she makes her famous lasagna. This will be the first time I've ever intentionally watched someone cook, hoping to replicate it myself. I imagine myself standing by with a notebook and pen lol.
Haha yesss take lots of detailed notes, and pictures of every step of the process!!! I hope you master the lasagna and carry on the tradition. What about her lasagna makes it so good?
I have no idea what makes it so good. I think the meat tastes really good, but I don't think she uses anything special... it will be interesting to see if there is a "secret ingredient" or if it's what I think it is... which is that she's made it so many times that she has mastered the ratios. (?)
There is something sacred about gaining mastery in any domain, no matter how small. And it's thrilling to hear about someone who has attained it. Good luck entering the chamber of koulourakia secrets.
I love a family recipe secret. My family has tried to capture my grandma's puerto rican rice recipe but it always ends up as "add this, and then add a little that" with no measurements of anything. My dog literally ate the recipe the first time it was documented. It feels like a secret nobody is supposed to know.
I hope one day you can write it down again and master it :) so that you can have your grandmas rice forever :) and share some. We should all have a potluck!
I looooove the idea of a potluck where everyone brings their secret family recipe. Secret Family Potluck <3
I CANT BELIEVE YOUR DOG ATE THE RECIPE LOLOL it does feel like an omen, you MUST feel it out, no measuring allowed! Haha
👋 Love this! Fellow baker here. I started baking to save money while a student, but didnt understand why my loafs always became hard ss bricks. it wasn't until I got to learn the craft from my father in-law that i realized the importance of proper hydration. Now my sourdough abd rustic rolls come out pretty desent. I try to follow an 80/20 principle in my busy life so its possible to provide the family and friends with healthy breads. I source all the flower from a nearby mill as the US store flower (even the good ones) are too processed and leave me feeling tired after eating instead of refueled.
Woah!!! That’s amazing. I need to find a mill. I haven’t made bread yet! I’m scared 😬 is bread as hard to make as I’m imagining it to be?? I’ll keep the hydration in mind when I do try making bread. Do you have a good base recipe to share? Do you like to bake any other breads or other treats???
I'm strictly a bread baker and stay away from pastries. They require more "chemistry" which I don't have patience for 😅 I'll try to share my simpler recipes soon, but a top of mind one would be 50/50 all purpose and whole wheat flour with 1:2 ratio water to flour. Bake the bread(s) at 400F for 45 min.
If you'd like to advance, make sure you have a functioning scale (meaning it measures correctly while you pour into he mix) and an electronics thermometer to poke it and verify it's 95C inside when done.
Fun fact: the Norwegian diet consists of 3/4 meals with bread. Usually whole grain.
When I first moved to the US we'd fly with a carry on filled with whole wheat flour from Norway as we couldn't find good alternatives at the time. Always fun going through customs! Once covid hit and we didn't fly for 2 years we found Central Milling north of San Francisco and ordered 50lbs bags from them 😅
A nearby mill?!! That is so cool! I'm over here using what's in the grocery store. I had no idea!!
This is really really sweet. It also sounds like a fun mystery to solve. And what a somatic experience it sounds like for her. Yiayia is powerful. Actually, anyone in a family that has a special staple recipe, especially for the holidays, holds a lot of power! Their food becomes so tethered to heritage, tradition, and memories.
I think my lack of baking skill is a major flaw on my end. Cooking? No problem. That I can do. It feels much more organic, intuitive, and simple, to me. But, baking is so special! And, in my opinion, everyone that bakes is instantly adorable. It’s still one of my goals to earnestly learn how to do it. Nobody bakes in my immediate family, though, so I think that hasn’t helped. I gotta do it, I gotta be the baker! It just feels like there’s so many steps and things going on. I need to put my years of watching The Food Network and seeing all the baking there to use.
I wish we had cool secret family recipes! But I would love to be able to recreate everything my grandma makes the same way she makes it all. Especially her rice and tamales and pozole. I think it’s the intuitive piece that is missing, though. Because I can use the same ingredients and follow steps, but doing it exactly as she does, in the way it’s engrained in her, is impossible, so getting something to taste EXACTLY like she made it feels hopeless.
For years, I’ve been told to pay attention to how she makes everything, especially the tamales, since I’m the one that makes them with her; that way I’ll be able to make everything like her in the future. But I don’t know, it’ll never be the same. People just have a specific way they do things that’s unique to them; you can see and taste their fingerprint in their food.
And now, all I want is to eat these intuition drenched butter cookies with coffee for a cozy time.
& happy anniversary to Banana Heaven! A favorite. Food is fun! Are there any other recipes or dishes out there in general that you find yourself wanting to master?
Oo I haven’t thought about that but it makes sense that someone who has a special staple recipe in the family holds a lot of power. Yiayia has TOO many, which is good, but also, I’ve only learned 2… and still can’t get them to be the same! So much to learn. I wish I could spend like every Sunday cooking with her. That would probably accelerate my chances of becoming a cozy cute yiayia!
I feel like everyone who cooks is also instantly adorable! I feel like being able to cook or bake are equally magical, equally strong in power too!
I’m excited for you to become the family baker! You will def excel at it. There is def room for experimentation with baking too. What do you want to bake? What will you with all that power?
I’m hopeful that you will be able to make pozole, tamales, and rice like your grandma. I’m sure if you keep spending time cooking with her you’d probably pick up on all her little subtle nuances and you will become her :) think about it, she’s just got so many years experience cooking those tamales. But I also like what you said about how the taste is still unique to her. I wonder if her grandmas tastes different, and she’s trying to achieve that taste too. So you will eventually have your own unique flavor as well that someone will want to emulate in the future :) Is cooking/baking just a never ending generational loop of trying to match our grandparents cooking/baking? 🧐
Man, I love tamales. What do you like to put in them?
YES EAT ALL THE COOKIES! I still have to make you some and send em.
I want to make everything in Alison Roman’s new desert book called “Sweet Enough.” I got it in the summer but only made one recipe at thanksgiving: the caramelized maple tart. It’s fab. I may make it again for Christmas lol or try something newwwwwww??????
I also want to learn how to make more of Yiayia’s sweets. She makes a fab Ravini (a farina flour cake with honey syrup, so simple, so texture, so mmmm) and Finikia (a soft cookie made with honey, orange juice, cinnamon and walnuts. But you don’t taste the orange juice at all). I need more yiayia baking time.
You should probably give up everything in life and just devote all your time entirely to cooking and baking with Yiayia. It's the only way to reach mastery. Then you will be the Keeper of the Cookies.
Usually the standard red/green chile tamales with pork, but I also love when we do rajas con queso, which is jalapeños (or poblano peppers) with cheese. There's also sweet versions of tamales, instead of these savory ones, but I feel like we've only made those once?
The caramelized maple tart sounds like a banger. Why not that and something new?!
You should give yourself an Alison Roman challenge and pick one recipe to make each week! I still have to check out that book.
I want to eat all of those sweets!
This makes me nostalgic and also crave these treats I’ve never had! I love when people have recipes only they seem to make. I also hate when I struggle to emulate them. Such a lovely story!
Yesss!! Is there a family or friends recipe that you’ve tried emulating??
My MIL is coming over a few days before Christmas just so she can show us how she makes her famous lasagna. This will be the first time I've ever intentionally watched someone cook, hoping to replicate it myself. I imagine myself standing by with a notebook and pen lol.
Haha yesss take lots of detailed notes, and pictures of every step of the process!!! I hope you master the lasagna and carry on the tradition. What about her lasagna makes it so good?
I didn't think about pictures! Good call.
I have no idea what makes it so good. I think the meat tastes really good, but I don't think she uses anything special... it will be interesting to see if there is a "secret ingredient" or if it's what I think it is... which is that she's made it so many times that she has mastered the ratios. (?)
Record the whole session! Wish I had done it before my grandmas dementias impacted also their baking and cooking memories too much.
This comment section is like a lil cooking/baking support group and I love it.
There is something sacred about gaining mastery in any domain, no matter how small. And it's thrilling to hear about someone who has attained it. Good luck entering the chamber of koulourakia secrets.
Thank you! If I find the chamber of koulourakia secrets I will report my findings!! And thank you for reading :)