When I was around 10 years old my grandmother gave me a recipe box. It was empty at the time, so she gave me a few recipes to start with and one of them was her sugar cookie recipe. I have since filled the box with recipes from the internet, books or ones that family and friends gave to me. Although I have made almost all of the desserts in my box, up until recently I had never made her cookies.
Over a span of two days my dad and I made cookies and frosted them. All we had was a list of ingredients, so we had to wing the rest. Hunting around in our cupboards we found some cookie cutters. Although it is the holiday time of the year, I wouldn’t exactly call what we made jolly. Sugar cookie cut-outs included roses, rocking horses, ice cream cones, cows, rabbits, ducks and the traditional ginger bread people. Oddly I feel that this hodge podge of cookies represents my family well.
Going abroad, I am intrigued to see how the family dynamics will change. I am excited to be living in a homestay in Barcelona, living with a grandmother and two other students. I am curious how she will compare to my experiences with American grandmothers. As a person who loves to cook, eat and try new foods I hope that I can gain these experiences and add to my recipe box. It almost seems like my recipe box is a metaphor for my life, filling up over the years with new foods and expanding my pallet. Living in Spain will be another incredible journey and my taste buds cannot wait for the wild ride.
