The food thing

Food here is incredibly good. (No surpise!) Everything is fresh and so tasty. And when we first got here we ate out a lot because our kitchen had no cooking staples – you know, the flour, the sugar, the spices, the baking soda, etc. etc. With the kiddos here, eating out can be pricey and since I now have a nice kitchen, cooking can be fun, if not challenging.

We have been invited to ?somewhere? at the end of the month to attend a “Country Music Festival”. We were told that the lady who is the consulate here is from Texas (are you surprised with W as president?). I had this hair-brained idea to bake some of my “famous” Texas cookies to bring along. I used to make and sell them at the Brooks Bazaar, a neighborhood Christmas bazaar in Clear Lake and they were usually a big hit.

So I took out the recipe. Hmmm, Crisco…. No, they don’t have that here, or so I am told. Baking soda…. Ok, I will have to get some of that. Baking powder… hmmm what’s that called? You get the picture.

So I searched the net and found 3 recipes without shortening; they use butter. I went to buy butter, simple enough. They had butter doux. What’s that? Is that regular butter? Doux (sweet?)… is that the same as unsalted…. Arghhhh…. Help! Can I open the package and taste it… or at least look at it???? Ahhhh … whatever… I buy 2.

Baking soda…. Hmmm – nowhere to be found. I came home, searched the web only to learn that you buy that at the pharmacie – packaged in a clear jar with a red top. (Haven’t tried that one yet!)

Baking powder… the web said it was sold in sugar sized packets. I saw some of those in the store but I got the feeling from the “Levuer de Boulangerie” writing on the package that is was yeast, not baking powder… is there a difference? Surely there is! I think I need to find Levure Chimique. Didn’t see that at the store… oh wait, there actually is some in the cabinet – the movers must have missed it, and packed it!

“Nothing is simple anymore.”

So I bought a box of something. I got home and discovered it was cornstarch. Well, I needed some of that anyway, but not for the cookies.

OK… well, the strategy changes… find a recipe that will use what you DO have. Bingo!

Hooray for the internet.

Voila! Sugar cookies! With butter, baking powder, vanilla, and flour. No shortening, no baking soda. And they taste good!