Clementine Tjameya
After years and years of mixing every edible thing in the kitchen with my mom to come up with new recipes, I have learned that the kitchen is where strong mother-daughter bonds are born. Nothing strengthens a girl’s relationship with her mom better than trying out new recipes together. Fathers and sons should try it too! It is all about opening up, feeling safe, feeling supported and affirmed and having fun.
Apart from being in suspense about how your recipe will come out, you will have plenty of time to share what is going on in each other’s lives and give some focused attention to your mom. There is something about the kitchen that prompts mothers to share even their most intimate stories with their daughters. One time while we were trying out a new recipe, my mom told me how she and my dad met!
I listened and to her stories curiously while watching her hands move from a cup of baking flour, to a pack of sugar, and then a bottle of milk and all the other ingredients, mixing and molding them into heavenly sweetness.
Over time I also got to know how to make puff puffs, and I developed a love for baking. Every two days she would give me money so that I passed by town to buy some baking ingredients after school. This was normally proceeded by hours of mom and I searching the internet and watching all sorts baking videos for recipes that would appeal to us. We went from muffins, cupcakes, plain madeira cake, round doughnuts, until we stumbled across my favourite flour snack-twisted doughnuts.
They are very simple and easy to make, and they turned out really tasty the first time we made them. Everyone at home wanted more and more of them. Even my dad would stand by watching while we made them.
To all the young women girls out there looking to feel close to your mom, becoming cooking or baking buddies is not a bad place to start. You’ll be surprised how open you will be with each other after trying out difficult recipes. Our mothers are more free-spirited than they let on. All it takes is a few good recipes and quality time in the kitchen.
Try my mom’s (and mine!) twisted doughnuts.
Ingredients: Butter, cooking oil, dry yeast, flour, milk, salt and sugar (preferably white). The amount of each ingredient depends on how many doughnuts you want to make.
Directions:
Melt two tablespoons of butter over medium heat in a skillet
Remove it from the heat after the butter is completely melted
Add a cup of milk to the melted butter
In another bowl, add two tablespoons of sugar and half a tablespoon of salt
Stir until all the sugar and salt dissolves
Add one egg and stir
Add one packet of dry yeast to the mixture when the egg is mixed with the milk
Continue mixing and let it sit for five minutes
Add three cups of flour and stir until all ingredients are well mixed, knead the dough aggressively
Cover contents tightly and let it sit for about an hour
Put it somewhere close to a medium heat source so that the dough rises quickly
Knead the dough again after it has risen and keep doing this until the dough until it is soft and smooth
Cover the dough again and let it sit for 40 minutes until it doubles in size
Separate the dough into 16 small round sections
Place a section on a smooth wooden surface and sprinkle with flour to prevent sticking
Roll each section into a thin rope of dough
Each hand should roll into the opposite direction in order for the rope to be easy to twist.
Lift both ends of the rope and twist it, making sure to pinch the ends in to prevent untwisting while frying
Place a deep pan with oil on the stove over medium heat
Put the twisted dough into the hot oil and fry and they turn into a delicious, crispy golden brown on the surface.
You can put any time of coating on the surface like coconut, icing sugar, chocolate icing, or cinnamon powder, etc.
