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Love Notes Of Butter And Sugar

In early autumn of 2017, shortly before the birth of our first child, my husband and I were seated at our dining room table reviewing a series of documents. The papers contained neatly printed, itemized, and dated lists of every dish I had prepared and stocked in our basement freezers in anticipation of the impending famine of new parenthood. My spouse, rather overwhelmed already, got to the baked goods section of the list and regarded me with a puzzled expression.

“Ok,” he said, “muffins sound great to have around. But why do we need so many cookies and cakes?”

Obviously, for all the guests coming to meet the baby!

“Wouldn’t people typically bring food for us? Are you really planning to feed them?”

Yes. Of course, I am.

Looking back on this moment, I realize how silly it must have seemed to anyone else. Over the top, even.

But to me, I could no more imagine welcoming people into my home without feeding them than I could imagine not speaking to them. It was important to me to have something to offer. Those cookies in the freezer were my love notes of butter and sugar to the people who would come to share our joy. A tiny way to say thank you for coming, and I’m so glad you’re here.

I’m Jillian, and I believe in the power of food. The kitchen is my comfort zone—where many of my deepest conversations have taken place and where I’ve learned the most about life. I’m a firm believer that the things we eat connect us to one another and that offering something you’ve cooked is offering a piece of yourself.

Before becoming a mom to three little people, I spent my career in the food and wine industries. Food can be magical, yes, but sometimes it’s simply the fuel that keeps one going. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks…there’s not always time to luxuriate in the ritual of preparation and dining. The freezers filled with homemade food are long gone, and entertaining nowadays more often means throwing together a cheese board than presenting a muti-course, showstopping meal.

I’ve decided to call this column Apron Strings. I love the idea that strings can bind us: to history, to family, to people both familiar and different than us across miles and years. They can tie us down or be the very thing that holds us together. Food can be so many things at different moments, but it is always a necessity.

I’m hopeful that this space can be one where we explore food and eating from myriad angles. We’ll celebrate food from the every day to the extraordinary and everything in between. I would love to hear from readers what kind of things you are interested in, from easy toddler breakfasts to wine pairing suggestions to the history of ice cream. This column is intended to be a conversation, and it’s your space as much as it is mine.

So as we get to know one another, please let me welcome you as I would anyone coming into my kitchen at home: with a simple cookie. This shortbread is so easy and so delicious. Four ingredients come together to create more than the sum of their parts: a buttery, sweet bite that never goes out of style. Better still, you can customize this recipe to suit your taste buds and create a recipe that is unique to your own household.

Come in. Have a cookie. I’m so glad you’re here.

Shortbread

Ingredients:

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Cream butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in salt and flour until just combined.

Pat dough evenly into an ungreased 8-inch round pan. Prick dough all over with a fork, then score into 8 wedges with a sharp knife or bench scraper. Bake 28 to 30 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack. While shortbread is still hot, score again on existing lines. Cool completely in pan.

Variations:

Jillian Simms, the Apron Strings food columnist and feature writer for Shore Publishing can be reached at apronstringsct@gmail.com.