The smell of history...

The sense of smell is a powerful thing. So many times you will pick up different smells without even realising that your brain is registering them. We identify things based on their smells, we react to smells we have negative experiences with in a big way. Take for example my eldest, Dylan who hates bananas and will move to the next room as soon as someone peels one. His younger brother of course likes to take advantage of this weakness, by using it as a form of torture and following him around so that I need to pin him down till he's finished eating the offending fruit. There are so many ways that our sense of smell plays into our lives but I think the most significant one is the way it evokes memories directly relating to feelings we had at that time. It creates a sense of Nostalgia.

What smell do you associate with the mornings? For me it's coffee, as a mom I cannot function without my coffee, I love it, the rich deep aroma and the way the smell changes when you add milk or flavourings. For my bestie it's tea, mostly a breakfast blend in the morning. So whenever I smell that I think of her. Have you noticed how as soon as you smell that signature scent in the morning you immediately start feeling more desperate for the steaming hot cup of Joe?

When you hug someone you love you may not even notice the way they smell half the time. But say for example you smell their perfume, immediately you think of them. One year for Christmas hubby bought me a bottle of perfume, great right? Amazing gift! Except that it was Elizabeth Arden Red Door. After I had opened it and said thank you, I asked him if he had smelt the tester in store, he said he hadn't because he was in a hurry but it was on special. I laughed, sprayed one spritz and asked him who it smelt like, "Ouma Letty" his grandmother. A few months later Ouma Letty was very happy with her birthday gift of her favourite perfume though. When I think of my own Ouma (grandmother) I think of the smell of cookie dough.

She never smelt of perfume or fragrances she always smelt of cookie dough. Is that where my cookie obsession comes from you ask, well it's definitely at least part of it. Both my grandmother's loved to bake. My Nana would make these 'flapjacks' which are nothing like the breakfast food you are thinking of and more similar to our Oat Crunchies here in South Africa. At one stage my Aunt had a home industry store and my Ouma would bake cookies and cakes for the store, every day there would be left over 'floppies' that she set aside for us and the kitchen counters would be strewn with cookies or cakes busy cooling. So of course whenever I bake cookies, especially certain types of cookies I think of my Ouma and the way she smelt like cookie dough and had smudges of flour in the curls of her hair.

There are quite a few of my recipes that I inherited from my grandparents and my mom. Almost all of them have since been tweaked and adapted to perfectly suit my needs but some just don't need anything done to them and I will make them just the way Ouma did. One of those cookie recipes is this family favourite Ginger Biscuit Recipe. Although I have changed one or two things slightly since then the base is still very much exactly the same as the one written in my book, The one I am going to share with you. Handed down from Ouma Alice Steenvat to me. I hope that your family will love this recipe as much as ours does when you make it.

As always please take pictures and share it with me if you do try this. I love seeing your creations. Drop me a message in the comments and let me know what smell it is that makes you think of someone special and if you feel like sharing tell me a little bit more about it. In the mean time enjoy the smell of cookies baking in the oven. Till next time. Lots of love, Tasha

Ginger Biscuits

250g Butter/Margerine

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup syrup

4 cups flour

2 Tbsp Ginger

Pinch of salt

2 tsp baking soda

- Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees celsius

- Cream butter & sugar together till light & fluffy

- Add the egg and syrup and mix to combine

- Add in the dry ingredients and mix to form a soft dough

- Spoon teaspoonfuls of the mixture

- Roll into balls and flatten slightly with a fork

- Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown

- Remove from oven & leave to cool

Yields approximately 45 cookies