Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Molasses Crinkles.....a story is emerging. 1-13-2015



Comfortably ensconced in an apricot covered chair, the spring light coming through the window casting the verdant green shadows of the Pacific Northwest all around, Elsie MacGregor, leaned back. I should go for a walk she thought. I will soon, I just want to look through a cookbook for awhile first. Elsie might not cook dinner, she might eat the leftover spring rolls and ginger vegetables that were in the fridge from the dinner last night at The Lemon Grass. Cooking, or at least thinking about food, was the way she connected to the world, and found her inspiration as a high school World History teacher. 

Elsie pulled on the silver earring dangling from her left ear. She ran her hand through her mid-length tousled brown hair. Her single silver bangle on her left wrist moved with her. Her blue eyes looked at the stack of cookbooks beside her chair. These books were friends. She wasn't resistant to recipes gleaned online with her iPad. She enjoyed television food programs. She had a Kindle. She wasn't up to her Millennial peer group techie standard, but she was holding her own. These books though each had a story. 

The Betty Crocker Children's Cookbook had seen better days. Her mother had lovingly passed it on to her a few years ago. Just looking at it made Elsie salivate. Her mother had perfected the Molasses Crinkle recipe in the cookbook by adding triple ginger. The crackling sugar on the outside and the ginger. This conjured up memories of fall,  and the slight chill in the air. She thought about coming home from school to a house fragrant with the aroma of these warm cookies. How had her mother done it? She created a lovely home with good homemade food, even though she herself was a working mother. Elsie felt like she was there, in her family home, talking with her mother after their work and school days, sharing stories and dunking a molasses Crinkles into milky cups of tea. 

😊Foods over done. Food though is how I have connected to culture for many decades. When I can't travel, cuisine offers that. I will use the fictional character Elsie to hone my writing skills and to travel vicariously.

2 comments:

  1. This is a great post! Congratulations on doing something original and with a character. I never write like that. I also enjoyed the memory -- similar to some of mine.

    I fell off the NaBloPoMo wagon yesterday as I was away for work and had to leave home at 5:30 to get home at 7:30 pm. I could have posted a few lines, but feel that is kind of silly. I think it's better to post when we at least have some inspiration...

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    1. Betty,

      You've done a remarkable job with daily blogging and inspiring. I have had fun learning with the NaBloPoMo group and may try again in the summer when I have more time. I will keep doing some writing though.

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