MARBLE CAKE

Bring out the old Mixmaster. Crack the eggs, check that they’re not bloodshot, and don’t worry about them being eaten raw. Beat the batter of fresh, diligently measured ingredients and allow the children to lick the beaters.

Stir the chocolate slowly and artistically to make a perfectly uniform swirl. Teach the children how to do that part. Bake. Repeat often throughout the years of child-rearing.

Ah, the memories. They were brought to the surface when I came home with a treat to share with my husband.

I took a bite from the Gourmet Marble Muffin from Zadies Bake Shop (www.ZadiesBakeShop.com), and with that, I could almost see my mother smiling. There’s no way I could begin to count how many times during my youth, she pulled out the Mixmaster. Family lore says she brought it “up the mountains” to the Catskills bungalows each summer. Like the American Express card, she must have thought, “Don’t leave home without it.”

How different our lives are. Yes, I still bake and cook, but there are so many modern conveniences, and when I get the urge, I readily pick up a packaged item. That said, there are today’s issues, and cautions, which, quite honestly, take away some of the fun. What child doesn’t itch to lick the batter? In my mind’s eye, I can picture my brother Stu vying with me for the batter-dripping beaters. That was prior to the advisory not to eat raw eggs.

What amazes me is the amount of blog post subject matter that comes to mind by something as seemingly insignificant as the memory of hovering around the kitchen table when my mother was making any of her sought-after homemade cakes, pies, cookies, and more. With my mother and her recipes gone, all I can do is sit here with my mouth watering for those childhood favorites such as her lemon meringue pie, pineapple-upside-down cake, apple pies in fall, frozen pies in summer, and chocolate chip cookies year-round. They were always the best!

In today’s world, egg-free, sugar-free, trans-fat-free, and low-sat-fat recipes would be the way to go. No wonder baked goods don’t have that rich taste of my mother’s. Stop drooling and carry on.

Vintage mixmaster with bowls and beaters shown online