I come from a family of bakers and good cooks and only have a fraction of their skills, but it taught me to, as my father would say, “know what’s good.” Paraphrasing a poem, I believe that all types of love happen at a kitchen table, in a cafe, at a food truck, or over a picnic basket.
Or, say, in the mass baking of Christmas cookies for the annual gathering your best friend holds, as Lisette does in Checked Out. Not only does she bake so many cookies, she teaches unskilled Peri how to make cookies at the same time. For the sake of the cookies, of course. Not for any other reason, nope.
Snippet from Chapter Twenty-One from Checked Out by Karin Kallmaker
Bottom line? Cookies are love that anyone can make. You can quote me.
My Blogged Recipes All in One Place
When I really love a recipe (and am super chuffed at how good it turned out) I put it on my blog. It doesn’t really surprise me that they are all particularly nice during the cold, dark time of the year. One of the motifs in Checked Out is celebrating the cycle of growing dark to returning light. The playlist that goes with Checked Out ends with “Here Comes the Sun” – the ultimate Solstice song.
Tell Me About Your Favorites!
I’d love to hear from anyone who has a beloved recipe, a trick that makes baking easier, or if you’d tried one of these and how it turned out. We’ve got travel plans for a chunk of the season so won’t be doing much baking. I’m consoling myself by thinking about it.
And calling it, um, research.
P.S. The paperback of Checked Out is on its way, and I think it’ll arrive just in time to get them mailed in time for gifts. When you visit the page you’ll see a selection of very nice things readers have said about the humor and atmosphere.
