And the Winners Are...

People shared some touching, heartfelt memories with us when they entered our Sweet Mama Baking Memory Contest.  Baking and baked goods affect all of our senses: touch, smell, taste, sight, and even hearing.  Marcel Proust put it so very eloquently in his novel In Search of Lost Time.  As he bit into a French Madeleine, he realized that it bore, "... in the tiny and almost impalpable drop of their essence, the vast structure of recollection."  In other words, as he bit into the tea-soaked confection, as the flavors and textures pervaded his senses, he was transported in time back to his childhood home and greeting his aunt on Sunday mornings.

"The sight of the little madeleine had recalled nothing to my mind before I tasted it...." but "....as soon as I had recognized the taste of the piece of madeleine soaked in her decoction of lime-blossom which my aunt used to give me .... immediately the old grey house upon the street, where her room was, rose up like a stage set to attach itself to the little pavilion opening on to the garden which had been built out behind it for my parents."


We are delighted to announce our Grand Prize Winner and Runner-Up...our modern day Prousts:

Grand Prize Winner: Sylwia Baran from Ridgewood, New York.  Sylwia's mother, Wanda, will receive our Mother's Day Cookies for Mother's Day, plus our Cookies for All Seasons.

Sylwia Baran with her mother Wanda

Sylwia's Entry:

Ever since I was a little girl of about 5, I have always been intrigued with the kitchen. I used to sit at the kitchen counter and watch my mom for hours, the way she made baking look so easy and whimsical was intriguing to me, even at 5 years old. We grew up in Poland so my mom always baked very traditional pastries. Jam filled doughnuts, coconut cookies, angel wings. I couldn’t wait until the day that I could do what my mom did. That’s why this one day is so special to me, the day my mom bought me my own rolling pin. It was a miniature version of hers, wooden and the length of a pen, but I loved that rolling pin and from that day on I was my mother’s little helper in the kitchen, with my tiny rolling pin in hand!

Runner Up: Liz Tyng from Santa Ynez, California (mom lives in Michigan).  Liz's mom, Jan Rinke, will receive our Mother's Day Cookies for Mother's Day.

Passing a love of baking to the next generation

Liz's Entry:

Some of my earliest and fondest memories of my mom involve baking with her. Way before Pinterest and Martha Stewart, my mom always came up with creative and thrifty ways to make our birthday cakes extra special. She saw baking as her personal creative outlet as well as a way to share her love. At Christmas we’d make flavored hard candies, dozens upon dozens of Belgian cookies and bear shaped raisin breads to give to family and friends. At every holiday she’d bake at least six different pies from scratch, typically using berries that we’d picked and frozen ourselves. But perhaps the most indelible memory of baking with my mom is the weekly treats we’d bake together that could be found in the corner of our kitchen counter. Peanut butter, oatmeal or chocolate chip cookies. Rice crispy treats. Brownies. Texas sheet cake. Chocolate pudding cake. There was always a special treat to be found in the corner. Now as a grandma of six, she continues to delight in sharing baking with her grandchildren. Allowing them to taste their first batter covered beater, sending them special sprinkles and cupcake liners in the mail and cutting out recipes and ideas for their birthday cakes. I find myself trying to do her legacy justice by getting my daughter in the kitchen as much as possible to share with her the magic and love of baking that her grandma instilled in me.

Whether it's the act of baking with loved ones, or simply eating baked goods with them, we hope that you and yours are creating delicious memories together.  Many thanks to all who entered or voted!