My parents are great cooks, and growing up in my family, food was love. But this past year I've made a big push for weight loss, and sadly that means my favorite family recipe for poppy seed cake is off the agenda. (Because you can't eat just one piece. It's more like one cake!) So here's how I've been keeping a bit of family recipe nostalgia in my life without eating my weight in baked goods!
1. Don't Make It: Although I'm perfectly capable of making poppy seed cake, my Mom's version tastes better anyway. So I leave that small treat for my return visits home.
2. Frame It: Even though I don't have cake after cake coming out of my kitchen, I can still keep the idea in mind. Try framing cherished recipes in your kitchen to remind you of all the good times.
3. Enjoy Other Foods' Inferiority: When times get desperate and I crave that soft tender crumble, instead of baking a whole cake I find a poppy seed treat at a local bakery. It's not as good as Mom's, but I also use that as an opportunity to tell her how much I miss her and her cooking! Pride in the kitchen can be a good thing and I like to keep it going!
Do you have a method to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below!
Related: Recipe: Lemon-Poppyseed Blinis
(Image: Sarah Rae Trover)
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Why not make a half recipe or a quarter recipe? Or make the cake, cut off enough for an evening or two's treat, and then freeze the rest?
I love to bake but for good or bad I don't have much of a sweet tooth. Soooo, I bake and take it to my gym( I'm a cardio patient and belong to a hospital gym) I've gotten very very good at twicking recipes so they are delish but healthty and low fat!!! or so they tell me,lol
turn that recipe into an heirloom! make a point of giving it as wedding present, etc, to new family members. that way, it gets the legacy it deserves.
Sometimes I make a recipe, enjoy a bit of it, then give the rest to friends. Who among us will turn down cake? Or I make them only when we're expecting guests, so we can all share it!
Perfect excuse to have a party! A great cake is better shared than left over.
I'm with Angelinethebaker. If I want a treat like that, I make it for, say, a potluck. I get to have a piece or two, but others eat the rest.
Saw a cute idea recently on line. It would be to take this cake recipe and if you have it in handwriting of say your grandmother or mom put it on a tea towel. I wish I had the link for you. Wait, I found it . Check on the Spoonflower blog.
No calories ingested. Recipe honoured.