Oct 1, 2010

Flashback Friday: Ode To My Grammy

I've always been a foodie. Straight out of the womb I was crying for food. For milk, duh! Over the years I would quickly learn that the best pairing for milk was cookies. To me, cookies became much more than a circular, sugary goodness, but a symbol of love. I attribute this connection of love with cookies because of the #1 woman in my life -- my Grammy.
Thanks to my "adventurous" mother, Meredith Orso became a grandmother at the young age of 40. Yep, my Grammy is a young lady, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Despite being a grandmother, she has maintained her coolness rather well over the years. This may or may not be due to the fact that my aunties and I are all pretty sassy ladies and my Grandmother, well, just puts up with us. Patient, loving, forgiving, caring, and sweet, my Grammy is my favorite person in the world! 
I spent many weekends with Grammy. She would pick me up on Friday and we'd go anywhere I wanted for dinner. We spent a lot of time eating Boston Market and Spaghettios. Dinner options varied, but dessert was always the same - home made chocolate chip cookies! I started baking with Grammy at a young age. I would sit on the counter Indian-style, watching her mix as I sampled the dough several times while asking her a million questions about the process. 
It was always the same technique - she would whisper "more brown sugar than white" like it was a secret and always reminded me to incorporate the flour slowly so I wouldn't make such a mess. (Ha!)
Eating chunks of cookie dough while the first batch baked was pretty standard too.
Whenever I'm craving chocolate, cookies are my sweet tooth's relief. Tonight I decided to whip up a batch that I recently read about on Jenna's blog. Her recipe reminded me of my Grandmother's because she uses only brown sugar to create a more caramelized, chewier cookie. 

I made the cookies very carefully, even measuring out the 2 1/2 cups of flour to 300 grams on my food scale. Baking, my friends, is a science. 
A few oopsies with the flour and brown sugar later, my cookie batter was ready for baking.
(Ignore the fact that my purse is ON the oven.)

And about 12 minutes later my cookies were ready to be devoured. 
These cookies are wonderful! Each bite reminded me of all the memories I have baking with Grammy. She certainly passed on the trait of getting complete joy out of baking cookies, but even more so the joy of sharing them with loved ones. 
So, my friends, remember the important people in your life...and bake for them! :) 
I LOVE YOU GRAMMY!!


What brings you joy? And how do you bring joy to others?


I hope everyone has a safe, fun weekend! I am headed to Clemson for some more FOOTBALL!! 

37 comments:

  1. These are adorable pictures! You are soo cute! I love grandma's recipes.I love cooking for others. Thats what brings joy to me. I really think the way to a persons heart is through their stomach:)
    Have a great weekend!

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  2. Aw- such a sweet post! :)

    And I like baking for people. It's one of my favorite ways to show them I care. I mean... who doesn't love sugar?

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  3. What a great post! How sweet! (literally AND figuratively, LOL!) Very cool that you and your grammy are so close.

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  4. I LOVE the pics of you baking when you were little. YOu were such a cute little Orso!!

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  5. So cute :) You were an ADORABLE kiddo. And your grandma seems like she totally rocks. I love baking for those I love- it really shows how much you care. Enjoy the game

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  6. So sweet! The women in your life sound awesome!

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  7. Cute post...Geeze, you seem to be heading to Clemson for football a lot these days! WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH CHRISTINA?!?

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  8. I absolutely love this not only because you were/are adorable..but because my gramma and I am super super close. She was also a gramma at 41, so she is still super young, and we just have the best of times. Speaking of which, she is coming to visit me today! :-)

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  9. what cute pictures! you were adorable.

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  10. This is such a sweet post! I admire your relationship with your grandma. Unfortunately mine past away from alzheimers a few months ago, and we were just as close! Its so important to have family and to spend time with your loved ones! =)

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  11. awhhhhhh!! my memories with my grammy (although not at young as yours! lucky!!) are cooking together, and reading eye spy books. we would sit on the couch for hours together! i love it, and i need those cookies!

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  12. Gosh, all this time I thought I was the cutest baby ever...and then I go and see YOUR baby pics! F-L-I-P-P-I-N' precious!

    Your cookies you baked look good enough to eat (wait...nevermind). I'll have you know that I now need to Windex my computer screen because I may or may not have licked my screen...hehe j/k <--that'd be kinda weird

    What brings me joy? Oh, why, why, why must I also resort to FOOD as my first thought...sigh...CHOCOLATE brings me joy and I'm in need of some PRONTO. FLIP, when is this prep over with so I can bake cookies too!?!?!

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  13. This is so sweet! My granny one of my most favorite people too, next to my 3 men. I baked with her all the time and sat on the counter for dough too! I love baking with my boys. I am actually making chocolate chip cookies today since they were requested last night. Have a great weekend Christina! Thanks for sharing your grammy with us!

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  14. SO weird!! I had talked about my Grandma in my post yesterday and I made Chocolate Chip cookies last night for my work!!! Kind of made me tear up bc I have so many great memories with my gmom, she was my favorite person too! YOU WERE WAY TOO CUTE btw and you are so pretty. I absolutely love this post.

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  15. aww loved seeing baby pics! Very cute! Such a great friday post!

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  16. Aw, what a sweet post:)
    And what a sweet leopard print mixing bowl!!

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  17. Holy cow those baby pics are beyond the valley of cuteness! Beyond. And I want 10 of those cookies RIGHT.NOW.

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  18. Awww! This was such a sweet post, it reminds me of times that I spent with my great-aunt. :-)

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  19. Soooo cute! I have a similar relationship with my grandma, it's awesome!

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  20. Oh my gosh I love this! Especially all those baby pics of you "baking." ADORABLE! I love my grams too.. grandmas are just the best people out there I swear!

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  21. Aw this was such a touching post! I get joy out of surprising people with things. I love to see their reactions, and it makes me happy to see that I made someone else happy :)

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  22. Aw this was such a cute post! It makes me excited to see my grandma and devour her yummy cookies at Thanksgiving!

    Also I totally agree that chocolate chip cookies made with brown sugar are the BEST. ;)

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  23. Awww, what a sweet post :)

    I really enjoy cooking and baking for others. I feel like it's so personal and loving.

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  24. What a sweet post! I love it. And the cookies look delicious. What better thing to share than fresh baked cookies? :D

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  25. I LOVE this post! It's so sweet. I also love your cheetah bowl/measuring cup. Too cute!
    What brings me joy is being around my family and my friends and supporting them :)
    Have fun at the game this weekend!!!

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  26. Yummy cookies, but GREAT story about your Grammy! I lost all my grandparents at a very young age so I love to hear about grandparent adventures!

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  27. This post was adorable!! I LOVE the picture of you on the counter- picture #4! So stinkin' cute :D
    I called my grandmother Grammy too! :)

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  28. How sweet Christina! Adorable pictures. I recall many afternoons of cookie-baking with my grandma as well, and we still make cut-out cookies together each year for Christmas. Spending time with my grandparents has made for lots of great memories, I'm happy to hear you have such a good relationship with your grammy. She seems like a kind and loving woman. I hope you have a great time at the game! :)

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  29. You are so freaking cute! I love all of the pics - you were a presh child - on the counter with the mixing bowl? Classic. Love that you're so close with your grammy!!

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  30. That is so fantastic that you have all of those adorable pictures to spark up such great memories. I made the same cookies a few weeks back for a bake sale where I work. They were a hit! The browning of the butter definitely adds a special touch.

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  31. What an adorable post and how cute are those pictures??!!

    "Adventurous" mom, I love it!! Be happy you have a younger grandma, all of mine have passed and I am so envious of those who still have them around.

    I've never made chocolate chip cookies with brown sugar before but it sounds intriguing!

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  32. :) I remember that picture of you on the counter "mixing" in your winnie the pooh jammies. . so stinkin' cute!!

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  33. You're grandmother looks young as all get out in that last pic:)

    I love this post, it's so sweet and the pics are fantastic.

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  34. love your pictures and i WANT THOSE COOKIES.

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  35. loving that flashback post! You're adorable!

    xo

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  36. I dont know how I missed this! Grammy IS the BEST ever! Couldnt have asked for a better mom and Grammy to my kids! The cookies are just the icing on the cake!

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