The Start of My Bubby's Desserts Recipe Book

My bubby (grandma) was a baker. Every time I would see her she would surprise me with a delicious cookie, muffin or cake. I would love spending weekends with her because she would allow me to help her with the baking and teach me the ins and outs of true baking and the secrets to creating the perfect dessert.

When I was about 7, she became blind due to a surgery complication. My bubby was devastated. How would she be able to bake without help she asked? It pained me to see her so upset. Coincidentally about a week after her surgery one of my teachers had us watch the Helen Keller story where I learned about sign language and the Braille system. That same day I went to the library with my mom and checked out a book on Braille. It took me 2 weekends to braille her kitchen by putting little dots of nail polish on all of her measuring cups, spoons, drawers, stove and oven. She learned to feel the Braille system quickly, and was back to baking without help about a month after her surgery.

As I got into my teen years my bubby's health began to deteriorate and she soon moved to a nursing home. As I was helping to sort through her apartment, boxing up her belongings, I found boxes and boxes of tattered index cards with recipes on them ranging from a simple butter cookie and birthday cake, to rugalach and a Passover marble cake. They were all her own creations, perfected throughout the decades. I could not think about throwing away the recipes that made my childhood so sweet, so I decided I would type each one out and compile a book for myself and my family with all of the recipes.

I've been using this book for about a decade now, mostly for Jewish holiday baking. Every time I made a dessert I would bring a piece to my bubby and she would say "I taught you well, it tastes better than when I made it!" It made her so proud to see me bake, especially using her original recipes.

Sadly, my bubby passed away about a year ago. Ever since then I dreamed of creating a cook book of her recipes for everyone to have and share. I've decided to stop dreaming and start doing, so today, I am going to begin the first step by testing out a recipe and photographing the final product. I'm going to bake 2 desserts every weekend. Wish me luck!