 |
| Don't they Instagram well? |
Happy Mother’s Day! As you can probably
gather from this blog, Kelly and I love our mummy very much. Sometimes, words
fail you in situations like this, because it is impossible to express how you
feel about someone in any other way but just feeling it.
Food, as cheesy as it sounds, is one of
those mediums that you can use to express your love for someone without trying
to describe it in words. That goes way back in our house, starting with Kell
and I trying to make Mummy breakfast in bed when we were little. Although I’m
sure my mum appreciated the gesture, I’m quite certain she didn’t enjoy the
mess it made, left for her to clean up. As we got older, the mess got smaller,
but the appreciation got bigger.
It’s funny how as you get older, your mum
gets wiser. All those lectures, rules and guidelines that were painful when you
were a teenager suddenly begin to make more sense. The lessons I’ve learned
from my mum are infinite, I can’t even begin to count how many there are. There
are some very important lessons I’ve learned from her though, and here a few:
1.
There is no “One.” You are your
only One, so love yourself as much as you possibly can. Anyone else in your
life is just added pleasure.
2.
If you find yourself getting
shrill and hysterical, (as you are wont to do when you happen to be 16 and have
what could be politely termed as a “flair for drama”) put yourself to bed for a
little while. See how you feel when you wake up. Usually it isn’t as bad as you
think.
3.
When entertaining, the most
important thing to remember is that it’s all smoke and mirrors. Simple recipes,
done well, have a lot more impact than over the top food which no one
understands.
4.
Above all else, love your family.
As my mother used to say when my sister and would fight, (and there were many,
usually stemming from the Super Nintendo) “When I’m dead and gone, you’ll only
have each other. So get a grip and say ‘sorry’.”
There you go. Now you have a little free wisdom,
right from my mother. Don’t take those lessons for granted. They are more
valuable than you think.
 |
| When my kitchen looks like this, you can tell I've been baking. |
My mother and I are apart today, which is
too bad because I would give just about anything to sit next to her on the
couch today and watch the Food Network for hours upon hours, but we’re together
in spirit. And if I were with her today, I would make these beignets for us to
eat while we watch Giada and Chuck.
The best thing about this recipe
is
that there is no yeast required, which is important to me because I hate buying
things like yeast and waiting for it to activate and all that. It’s too
annoying and requires far too much patience from me. All you need is:
 |
| Draining |
•
½ cup butter
•
1 cup water
•
¼ teaspoon salt
•
1 cup all-purpose flour
•
4 eggs
•
Oil for deep-frying
•
Teaspoon of lavender
Start by heating your oil in a
deep fryer or deep pot/wok. Melt the butter and water together in a different
pot and then add your flour, salt and lavender to the batter. I removed the pot
from the heat and beat in the eggs. Now you’ll have quite a sticky batter. Take a spoonful of this batter and fry.
(Check your oil first for temperature by dropping just a little bit of batter
in. It should bubble up right away.) Each one takes about five minutes per
side. Drain on a paper towel.
Let’s make a glaze now. I
adapted this recipe but changed it a little.
•
5 1/3 Tablespoons butter
•
2 cups powdered sugar
•
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
•
1/3 cup hot water
Heat the confectioner’s sugar
and water together pot, add the butter. I also added a few drops of rosewater
with the vanilla.
 |
| Finished product! |
When the beignets have cooled,
dip them or drizzle them with the glaze. Allow them to dry. Enjoy! And give
your mama a little extra love today.
No comments:
Post a Comment