Eulogy For Grandmother

“Now add one egg, and mix it in once it looks right ill tell you to stop.” I mixed and folded the batter until it looked matte “ now stop.” she said as she intently watched the consistency of the choux pastry coming together in a sauce pan from the 1970’s,decorated in psychedelic orange and yellow mushrooms “Now don't mix too fast be, be gentle make sure all the shininess is gone then you know it's done.”

This is my best memory of baking with my nana, she taught me everything I know today about baking. It's my favorite thing to do and it's also hers even now that she is getting older and she can't stand for a long time and her back bothers her she still finds a way to make us pies for christmas, easter, and every holiday that we share
She shaped who I am now, making me resilient to the heat of a stove or oven and conditioning me to stand for long hours with no problem. The feeling I get when I bake is like no other, like a mother looking at her child play at the park. Nothing in my life has ever compared to that feeling and I don't know if I will ever match it. It captures me in an unexplainable way when I pull something out of the oven to find it perfectly baked and ready for everyone I love to enjoy. Maybe it's the process of making it or the feeling I get when my dad bites into a fresh slice of apple pie and he has the same reaction just like he is having it for the first time all over again, even though he has a million times before. My nana's passion for cooking and baking has inspired me to change and grow into who I am now. If I never had her I don't know who I would be today, I certainly wouldn't be baking or cooking or spending so much time on my feet. I might have never gone into culinary class at the jefferson-lewis BOCES in the tiny town of lowville and I would never see the happy smile on my dad's face as I eagerly