Sugar Cookies & Sweet Times

Last weekend, I invited the teachers from my school over to my house to bake sugar biscuits*. Since I arrived, I have baked a variety of cookies and brought some to share with the teachers. Each time, I have been asked for the recipe. Seeing how popular the biscuits have been, I thought it would be fun to teach my colleagues how to bake one of them.

In preparation for my teachers, I made hummus and cut up some veggies. I haven’t seen hummus in the grocery store in my shopping town, so I was taking the chance that they hadn’t had it. And then I waited… and waited… and waited. In true African fashion, the teachers were running late. There was a moment when I thought they weren’t coming, but I was relieved when I got phoned* by one of them saying they were on their way.

Two of the Teachers Mixing Ingredients

Three of the teachers from my school came. They were excited and curious to see the hummus. My risk paid off; none of them had had it, and, further, none of them had even heard of it. It was fun to see them try the hummus because they commented on how healthy it was; especially to eat it with veggies.

After the hummus, I pulled out the ingredients we needed to bake the biscuits. Since the teachers were learning how to bake them, I had them mix the ingredients. It was true experiential learning in the making, evidenced by the flour on their clothes. We were having a lot of fun and we took pictures at each step. It was funny because the teachers took turns completing the same steps so they could rotate into the frame to have their picture taken. Also throughout the mixing, one of the teachers took notes so she could make the biscuits again on her own.

Cutting Out Biscuits and Preparing the Icing

With the dough prepared, I had them smell it so they could take in the vanilla aroma. They were sheepish about doing so because in Zulu culture it’s considered rude to smell food. I could see their reluctance to smell the dough, but I told them that it was okay. I explained that in American culture it’s a compliment to smell one’s food. It was a great moment to compare cultures.

The Sweet Part of the Process - Adding Icing

I then showed them how to roll the dough and cut out the biscuits. Michelle and I don’t have cookie cutters, so we improvised using a cup. (Last Christmas, Michelle and I made cookie cutters out of pop cans. Thank you Google!) The biscuits were ready to go into the oven. The teachers were surprised to see how simple it was to make the biscuits. Anytime I had brought them to school, they imagined that I went through some complex process to make them.

 

The Icing with Fun, Bright Colors!

While the biscuits baked, I heard them say several times about how they learned how to make “American cookies”. (While we mixed the ingredients, I kept switching between cookies and biscuits without realizing it and they picked up on it). I told them about how my family makes these biscuits, and many other kinds, during the Christmas season. It was how I learned how to bake. The teachers and I talked about how we were kind of like a family then since we were now making the biscuits. It was really cute.

After the biscuits came out of the oven and had a chance to cool, I showed the teachers how to make icing*. I explained to them that the frosting recipe is the same one my grandma used. I had food coloring, so I asked them what colors they wanted to make for the biscuits. They didn’t understand why we would change the color of the icing at first, but, when they saw the various colors, they commented about how the biscuits looked so much more appealing and fun. They said the biscuits kind of looked like toys because the colors made them so bright.

A Rainbow of Color

Icing the biscuits went by in a flash. We took more pictures while we decorated them. After the biscuits were iced, we each grabbed one and toasted to our success. The biscuits were so delicious! There were lots of “mmm’s” as we enjoyed a few of them. One of the teachers said that she was glad we had the hummus and veggies to start because it helped offset the biscuits we ate – haha!

Before the teachers left to go home, we took a group photo and talked about how much fun we had. They said we should hang out again and learn how to bake other things. I told them it was a date.

The Master Chefs Beaming after Their Work Was Finished

I want to give a shout out to my mom for teaching me how to bake. Every time I do, it reminds me of home and family. Last weekend, our family grew a little in size.

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* biscuits – Cookies are known as biscuits in South Africa.

* phoned – South Africans say “phoned” instead of “called”. They make a distinction between calling someone on the phone (to phone) and calling someone from some place like across the room.

* icing – Although Americans use icing and frosting interchangeably, South Africans strictly use icing. In my family’s house, we say frosting, but, when I’ve tried using frosting here, I get only puzzled looks.