2006年NPR美国国家公共电台十一月-Baking by Senses and Memories

Welcome to This I Believe, an NPR series presenting the personal philosophies of remarkable¹ men and women from all walks of life.

I believe in honor, faith, and service...
I believe that a little outrage² can take you a long way.
I believe in freedom of speech.
I believe in empathy.
I believe in truth.
I believe in the ingredients of love.

This I Believe.

On Mondays, we bring you This I Believe, our series of statements of personal conviction. Emily Smith is a theology student from Austin, Texas. Like the rest of us, the 23-year-old is busy this week with all the shopping and cooking it takes to get ready for Thanksgiving. And she's been thinking about what it means to her family to share meals. Here is our series curator independent producer Jay Allison.

Often beliefs are grounded in the simple ordinary acts of daily life. Emily Smith bakes birthday cakes for all her friends, many of whom haven't had a cake made for them since they were little. They asked her why she did it. She decided³ to write for our series in response. Here is Emily Smith with her essay for This I Believe.

I've gone through 10 pounds of flour in 3 months. I know that's not normal but I believe baking is an expression of love, not only for the person being baked for, but also for the person who taught me how to bake, for the person who gave me the recipe, for the past and tradition. My grandma Dottie lives on in her recipes that I continue to bake. Her molasses cookies are so good they need to be shared with the world. The batter⁴ is sticky and has to be refrigerated for 4 hours. It turns the whole thing into more of a production. But it's impossible to roll the dough⁵ into balls when it's that sticky. I know, I've tried. So I wait just like my grandmother waited, four hours while the dough chills. Then I roll the dough into balls, roll the dough balls and sugar and smash them with a fork twice, creating a crisscross pattern and put them in the oven. I look at the cookies instead of relying on the timer. I'm beginning to bake with my senses and my memory instead of with the recipe. My grandma Dottie abbreviated⁶ everything at her recipes so it took me a while to figure it out. Is the batter the right color? The right consistency⁷? Does it smell right? My dad's job is to compare my reproductions to the originals of his childhood. If they turned out the same, they are more than cookies--and that's what I'm trying to do.

I like to watch my father's face when he remembers his mother. Because we are Texan, my mother needs a pecan pie for it to really be Thanksgiving. Pecan pie is mostly the corn syrup⁸, a few eggs and pecans. It doesn't look appetizing but amazing things happen in the oven. The filling caramelizes and turns a dark brown. I baked my mom a pecan pie. I made the crust and everything and even she doesn't do that. The recipe I used yields a stiffer filling. It's not the gooey pecan pie I grew up with. So I was worried at first that I'd done something wrong. But my mother said it was the best pecan pie she'd ever had.

And right then and there, my pecan pie recipe, the one that I'd found in the cookbook my grandmother gave me, became the new family recipe. So this Thanksgiving, it's my job to make the pie. For me, it's a symbol of becoming an adult and the pecan pie becomes my contribution to our family tradition. I believe that as long as I keep baking, my grandmother hasn't really gone. I believe baking is the best way for me to express love for my people in the present and honor the people of my past all in one batch⁹.

Emily Smith with her essay for This I Believe. You may understandably want the recipes for the pecan pie and her grandmother Dorothy's molasses cookies. You'll find them along with all the essays we've aired and the almost 20,000 that have been submitted at NPR.org where you can also submit your own. For This I Believe, I'm Jay Allison.

Next Monday, on All Things Considered a This I Believe essay from Composer Joan Tower who believes that music can change the world.

Support for This I Believe, comes from Capella University.

This I Believe is produced for NPR by This I Believe Incorporated and Atlantic Public Media. For more essays in the series, please visit npr.org/ this I believe.
------------------------
theology
神学
molasses
<美>糖蜜
batter
A liquid or semiliquid mixture, as of flour, milk, and eggs, used in cooking.
牛奶鸡蛋面糊：一种液体或半液体混合物，是牛奶、面粉、鸡蛋混合成的，用作烹调
pecan
[植]美洲山核桃树, 美洲山核桃
caramelize
加熔(糖)使焦, (糖)熔化而变成焦糖

1 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

2 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 batter   

v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员

参考例句：

• The batter skied to the center fielder.击球手打出一个高飞球到中外野手。
• Put a small quantity of sugar into the batter.在面糊里放少量的糖。

5 dough   

n.生面团；钱，现款

参考例句：

• She formed the dough into squares.她把生面团捏成四方块。
• The baker is kneading dough.那位面包师在揉面。

6 abbreviated   

adj. 简短的，省略的 动词abbreviate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He abbreviated so much that it was hard to understand his article. 他的文章缩写词使用太多，令人费解。
• The United States of America is commonly abbreviated to U.S.A.. 美利坚合众国常被缩略为U.S.A.。

7 consistency   

n.一贯性，前后一致，稳定性；(液体的)浓度

参考例句：

• Your behaviour lacks consistency.你的行为缺乏一贯性。
• We appreciate the consistency and stability in China and in Chinese politics.我们赞赏中国及其政策的连续性和稳定性。

8 syrup   

n.糖浆，糖水

参考例句：

• I skimmed the foam from the boiling syrup.我撇去了煮沸糖浆上的泡沫。
• Tinned fruit usually has a lot of syrup with it.罐头水果通常都有许多糖浆。

9 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。