the absentminded crafter

my evening started with a successful quest for an electric knife. i'm an avid baker, and have been especially interested in homemade bread this past winter thanks to a late-in-the-foodie-game discovery of the wonder that is no-knead bread. the only problem with this bit of deliciousness is slicing it. for a while i was looking for a slotted slicing guide, but on the advice of the internet opted for the aforementioned electric knife. and i was thrilled with the result, easily and neatly slicing through a loaf of cheddar chive bread i had made the previous day.

being in my small and cluttered kitchen with yet another nifty appliance, i decided to sort through some large Ikea baskets that had been living on top of my kitchen cabinets that served as storage, possibly since i moved into this particular apartment some 8 years ago. i had a vague memory of having been given my mom's old mandoline slicer and i decided it was about time i dug it out. in the basket was a treasure trove of old thrifting finds from the many rummage sales mom and i had gone to in years past, from an adorable squat electric coffeepot to some fun printed tea towels from vacations past. i was amazed at myself for having neglected these nifty objects for so long!

but then came the shock of all shocks: last year i had gone to my boyfriend's mother's birthday party, where her italian landlady had brought a plate of homemade pizzelle to share. they were beautiful, delicate and delicious and i was filled with baker's envy. that night, i searched for pizzelle makers online and was saddened to see that the price wasn't one that i could justify for an appliance with so specific a use. i considered asking for one for christmas, but soon forgot when other items that would be more useful came to mind. the pizzelle maker remained a wistful dream. that is, until i pulled down one of those huge, heavy baskets and discovered I ALREADY HAD ONE!!!!! yes, i had apparently picked one up at a yard sale some years before for something absurd like $5. it was in perfect condition. i called my mom to tell her of this foolishness, and she said she had a vague recollection of me buying it. now there was only one thing left to do: make some pizzelle.

because i'm THAT girl, i already had some anise extract. i went to the King Arthur Flour website and found their recipe, after doing a general search that suggested that most people made pizzelle in batches of 100 or so (one recipe called for 18 eggs. 18!!!). because i like options, i decided to split the batch and do one half as anise, the other as orange. i found the appliance's manual online and skimmed over it, then promptly disregarded the instruction to use vegetable shortening to season the surface (hey, it had a non-stick coating, what was i supposed to think?). the first 2 cookies stuck, and i took a break to scrape them off and take a look at the instructions again. armed with my Crisco, i gave it another try. by the end of the batch, i had just about gotten the positioning of the dough right to make the cookies spread evenly.

they were as pretty as i had hoped, and super tasty. and now i'm obsessed with the flavoring possibilities...it's like an empty canvas, open to so many variations. and as a child who grew up learning recipes with instructions like 'add shortening the size of an egg', i'm always happy to have the option to add my own spin. my mother is really the one responsible for my love of cooking, and i will be eternally grateful to her for that.

now if only her memory for my thrift sale purchases had been better than mine. think of all the pizzelles i could have made over the last 8 years...! it's kind of heartbreaking.