Macon Magazine

and I get ideas in the middle of cooking that radically change a dish, and you can't do that in baking," Lane says. "Grandma's recipes were written down the way someone who has been making a recipe for the better part of a century would write them." Mary Grace Baker's sugar cookies, or Amish sugar cakes, are a type of drop cookie with crystalline sugar crusting the top. "Very airy, so that you don't have to chew it so much as let it melt in your mouth," he says while si ing the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Using a hand mixer and a larger, separate bowl, he beat the shortening and light brown sugar together at a medium pace until fluffy. His daughter, Sonny, and son, Baker, run in and out of the kitchen, giggling and checking on the progress of the cookies. He hands each of them a mixer beater heavy with cookie dough to lick clean – a tradition the kids are glad was passed down. Baker never got to meet his great- grandmother, but Sonny is just old enough to remember her great-grandmother's kindness. She watches her father add eggs and vanilla to the shortening and sugar bowl and mix until combined. In a third and final container, he stirs together the cream of tartar, baking soda and milk and waits a few minutes for it to sour. Lane then alternates flour and milk into the mixture, being careful not to overwork the dough. With a spoon or a cookie scoop, he drops the cookies onto a baking sheet. The cookies bake for 13-15 minutes or until they have risen and spread and are golden brown around the edges. Immediately when they come out of the oven, sugar is sprinkled on top. TRADISHES Rediscovered recipe sparks fond memories Join us in this series as we search for the dishes that move you. We want to know why you cook what you cook. Share your story with us at hello@maconmagazine.com. BY KELLEY DIXSON | PHOTOGRAPHY BY MIKE YOUNG "S imple and clean. All her recipes were like that. She didn't overcomplicate food. She baked because that's how she loved." Chef Lane Richardson's grandmother, Mary Grace Baker, began her life in Amish country during the Great Depression, learning how to grow, prepare and preserve food, how to nurture those around her and how to live simply and still feel fulfilled. The expert knowledge handed to all her children and grandchildren before her death in 2014 was invaluable. But for Lane, her influence was a crucial ingredient to the man he would become. "Her family was her pride and joy, and while I don't remember her saying 'I love you' all that much, I do remember always feeling loved. She'd always let me lick the spoon when she made sugar cookies," he says. Now, through Lane, Mary Grace Baker's legacy of how to love with food is carried on to another generation. "Grandma used to feed us butter. She'd say 'Kids need fat!' She grew up in the Great Depression. They did what they had to do," he says. Mary Grace Baker was a housewife for 56 years and baked almost every day. Lane showed us her personal recipe book with handwritten instructions on how to make her most cherished dishes. Among them was the recipe for her sugar cookies. With just a few ingredients – and somehow even fewer directions – the recipes are all handwritten and would probably only benefit the most seasoned baker. "I don't really enjoy baking. It's a long game of hurry up and wait. It's too precise, 74 maconmagazine.com | JUNE/JULY 2021

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