How It All Started...
I have always had an affinity for cooking. My nanny from years ago instilled in me the importance of home-cooked meals. She never had any “boxed” or prepared foods in her pantry, and neither do I. If I could make a living preparing meals using my own kitchen and my own methods, I’d be in the ideal situation.
The golden brown factor of my cooking has always been there, but I never really noticed its importance until I started explaining cooking techniques to friends, family and even one-time acquaintances. I’m sure I’ve read the term in many recipes, but I’ve always cooked my meals and baked my goods until it looked just right - and that “just right” happened to be - you guessed it - golden brown.
Years ago, in my early stages of Toastmasters, I became conscious of how many times I spaced my well-thought words with little “uhs” and “umms” (they trained me using a bicycle horn and to this day I hear that horn when I stumble in speech). It was my husband, however, who pointed out my addiction to the words “golden brown”. In 2006 I created a cooking video for a Food Network contest. After watching the playback I realized why my husband and his friends had laughed after I’d given the proper instructions for baking a pizza, or crisping the hors d’oeuvres. Dessert was the same. As I put each pan into the oven, I instructed to bake the course at whatever degrees for however many minutes “until golden brown”.
Golden brown has become my trademark amongst those who eat the food I so lovingly prepare. Forget the fact that I now consciously recognize this term being used in many food shows. Forget that it’s a fact - my chocolate chip cookies ARE baked until golden brown; my pizzas are done when the crust turns a light golden brown, and the golden brown crust that houses homemade apple pie makes it both tasty and darn nice to look at for a while.
On Christmas Day 2006, my husband told me I needed to check my email. There, on the bright screen, was a message, instructing me to click a link. It took me to this site, and the instructions that I must continue on with molding it’s life didn’t need to be spoken aloud.
My husband and our friends may laugh when I utter those two beautiful words (and even if I don’t - they’ll often ask, “is it golden brown?”). But that’s okay - I take it as a compliment. After all, they never leave any crumbs on the plate…
Posted
Saturday, December 30th, 2006 at 10:08 pm EST
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