Combina-cipe

Combina-cipe: (Cahm-bi-neh-sip-ee) n. The result of a rebel chef who carries the notion that they have masterminded a superior form of two or more recipes.

Hello. My name is Caelyn. And this is the look I get on my face when I’ve tasted something that has caused the wheels in my mind to churn until I’ve created something of my very own.

I can never claim originality. But then again King Solomon – the wisest man to live – said “there is nothing new under the sun”.

So, in essence, none of us can make that claim.

I digress.

In posts gone by, I mentioned briefly our holidays that were spent with my mom’s parents who braved the Atlantic for the first time ever to visit the “wilds of Africa”…

My grandfather is one of my culinary heroes. He has taught me so much & was patient enough to instruct this non-perfectionist on his perfectionist cooking methods.

He purchased me a kitchen scale (if you don’t have one, get one).

Set aside a few days for baking & cooking.

And even taught me how to make his famous Date Chew Cookies.

Meet the Master Chef:

And again…

And one last one of his hands…

Whenever we are with my mom’s parents, Pap’s Chewy Date cookies are requested along with several other “Grandma & Pap favourites”.

Being an adult & contributor in the kitchen, it is way more fun working with Pap & discovering each other’s kitchen quirks.

This time, my pap & I got some good laughs out of our differences.

For instance, I believe that unsalted butter is a sin to use in baking. Not even going to sugarcoat it.

In my humble opinion, I hold that unsalted butter leaves a watery void in food that my tastebuds are highly sensitive to.

Although I am convinced I get my urge to adapt recipes from Pap, my suggestion to try salted butter scared him. – That same kind of “scared” you get when your child with the Learner’s Permit (or younger sibling, in my case) requests to drive you to the store.

I respect that.

So, out of respect, I waited until he was safely back in his kitchen in America to try things MY way. 🙂

You may be familiar with Sally’s Baking Addiction. If you are not, make sure you are self-disciplined & motivated because I’m sure that most of you resolved to live healthier lifestyles & lose weight this year.

My sister, who has not had dessert in two years, introduced me to her. Devilish of her, right?

Whenever I want to get ideas & adapt my baking recipes, I weigh most recipes against hers.

I combined her Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies with my pap’s recipe.

These are reasons why I know this is a good decision:

• She toasts her walnuts. (Need I say more? … I will, anyway.)

• She includes cinnamon in her dough which inspired the spices I incorporated in mine.

• She uses molasses

• Unlike Sally, my pap mixes various dried fruits & loads the dough with them.

Besides that, their recipes are pretty similar. Including the fact that she, too, uses unsalted butter.

But that’s all the better for me.

I took the best from both worlds & formed my own Utopia.

My dough tastes divine.

I’m a believer.

“Whip it. Whip it good.”