Mother Lovett: A Recipe.

 

Don’t know much about Mother Lovett – my deaf, blind, bossy and utterly hilarious grandma? She is funnier than a cross between Everybody Loves Raymond and Seinfeld.

 

You can find out more about her here, here, here, and here.

 

 

I loved hearing about the dialogues with your own grandmother (or mother!) in my weekend recap. I could laugh for hours reminiscing our Mother Lovett stories. Such as the one below – one for the history books.

 

 

 

Summer 2008, pre election.

 

Me: How are you, Grandma?

ML: Oh. I’m not great. I’m all in.

Me: Why is that?

ML: There is nothing on TV! I tried to watch the story but even that wasn’t on.

(for the record, ‘the story’ refers to The Young and The Restless, for which, my entire life, I have heard about as if the characters are her friends.)

Me: Oh that’s right, the election coverage is on.

ML: Yes. All I hear is Omaha, Omaha, Omaha. There is nothing else on but Omaha. I just want to watch the story.

Me: Omaha?

ML: Omaha! The man running for president!

 

 

 

Enough said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Orange cookies are one of my mom’s favorite cookies that Mother Lovett and I would bake at Christmastime. We didn’t always make them. The last couple of years we made them because since she could not see, hear, and successfully walked around with 4 blockages in 3 arteries for 20 years, I ran the show.

 

 

 

Her recipe called for shortening. I used butter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Big mistake. I tried not to use shortening because it just seems so…fatty. And filled with bad, fake…stuff. And I know this is surprising, given some of my favorite recipes.

 

 

 

 

Oranges.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I always zested the oranges for Mother Lovett when I was younger, and now I know why.

 

 

It is a huge pain in the arse.

 

 

 

We aren’t talking a tiny bit of zest here.

 

 

 

 

We are talking the zest of 4-5 oranges.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the cookies, and the glaze.

 

 

 

 

Why does it taste so bad, but make food taste so good?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The world will never know.

 

 

I probably shouldn’t say that because I’m sure one of you can google it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Juiced those babies all on my own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Freshly squeezed.

 

 

Into my mouth.

 

 

Err..the bowl.

 

 

 

 

 

I have an old-school juicer that was Mother Lovett’s, but I couldn’t find it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So I jabbed these babies with a fork and let their flesh runneth dry.

 

 

 

Does that make sense? Did I even say it right?

 

 

 

 

Discard the seeds!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No one wants a cookie with a hugh jass citrus seed inside. Especially me, cause I don’t want no orange growing inside my belly.

 

 

 

 

I really don’t talk like that. In fact, when my husband reads this post, he will probably scold me for even typing like that.

 

 

 

He like to remind me to say ‘I’m doing well‘ instead of ‘I’m doing good.’ For all of you wives out there, I’m sure you just love when your husband corrects things like this, right?

 

 

 

Not. It drives me batty. Do you hear that hubs? Stop. It’s annoying. Kind of like your treasures that are in our beautiful home.

 

 

 

 

 

I used buttermilk in the cookies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used buttermilk that expired on 9/15/09.  But I promise I did it in respect of Mother Lovett. She had a plethora of expired items, such as soy sauce that expired in 1978, yellow mustard that expired in 1999, and Campbell’s soup that expired in 1985.

 

 

Soup is a CANNED GOOD. Do you have any idea how long it takes for that to expire?

 

 

Oh well. At her house we all just slathered that yellow mustard on our chipped ham sandwiches and partied like it was 1999. Even though 1999 was almost 10 years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zest in the batter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cookies ready to go in the oven.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I should mention these are more of a ‘cake-like’ cookie. Like the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies from last month.

 

 

 

 

I set the extra batter aside so I could use my mixer to make the glaze.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Freshly squeezed orange juice and powdered sugar. And zest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s IT. So simple and so, so delicious.

 

 

 

 

Almost thick enough – better add some more sugar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ahhh…perfect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Cake-like’ texture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the glaze is brushed on, it dries and slightly ‘cracks.’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tastes like Christmas.  I would be lying if I told you I didn’t eat the glaze by the spoonful.

 

 

 

 

I didn’t eat the glaze by the spoonful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy these cookies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And each time you make them, think of all the 8 month old oranges I had to zest as a kid.