I’m alone today. Or as I call it, in heaven. While spending the pandemic alone must have been tough, seeing the same person, and only that person, every single day for a year, is no picnic. For him too, I’m sure, I’m no prize lol Anyways, I’m spending my alone time with several baking projects. One in particular is a bit… Let’s just say unusual.
I was looking online for a recipe when a very odd recipe came up in my feed. I read it. Read it again. Then decided it was written by someone who was high. Actually, I think it was written by a group of students in a dorm with access to both weed and a Dollar Tree. Let’s just say there were some major hints.
I myself once came up with a “recipe” when I was that age and high. It didn’t involve cooking as it was just a very basic hors d’oeuvre. A water cracker spread with mincemeat and topped with a dollop of marshmallow fluff. Go ahead and laugh. It was delicious and to this day I still love it. But my point is, I recognize a recipe made up under the influence.
One of the first hints was in the way the recipe was written. It said, “You know all that mix the dry together and the wet together? No, just throw all the stuff in a big bowl and mix it up.” There was also the measurements. They were a mix of cups, ounces, and grams. And there was one very odd ingredient that I haven’t seen anywhere in years except at the Dollar Tree. As a matter of fact, when I went to the Dollar Tree to get it, I discovered all the “add ins” came from the Dollar Tree candy section. Hence the oddly written recipe. They dumped in entire packages and when writing out the recipe for future reference, they wrote down the weight on the bag. And some of the bags had ounces and some of those bags had grams. I missed my calling when I didn’t become a detective.
My guess is one of these “chefs” was Irish or English and knew their mother’s recipe for scones by heart from years of helping her make it. Because I can tell the original base of this recipe was for scones. So they started with that then instead of adding raisins, went a bit crazy in the candy aisle. Then my guess is they decided the mixture was too dry so they added eggs. Lots of eggs. Dollar Tree sells eggs by the six pack. So six it is lol
After all that, I’m not sharing the recipe. It’s good. But not great. I probably won’t make it again. But it was great craic figuring it out and making it. Then again, I’ve had two pieces already which is not like me. I love to bake. And people love my baking. But other than a taste to be sure it’s okay, I really never eat my baking. Maybe I’ll play with the recipe a bit. Some conformity with the measurements, certainly. And funny enough, the one odd ingredient that screamed Dollar Tree to me is the one ingredient that keeps the recipe from being great. But I have some ideas of possible good substitutes. So perhaps I can elevate the recipe to greatness and then I will publish it.
Meanwhile, I keep going back to the last line of the recipe as it was written, “This is really, really good with ice cream.” hmmmm I have a carton of French Vanilla in the freezer…
Kate Eileen Shannon 