It’s Christmas Day, and the kitchen is bustling and full of everyone in the family. Plates are stacked high, football plays on the TV, and recipes line the counter as ginger cookies, roast chicken, and pies come out of the ovens. Warm red and yellow lights gleam into the house as you cook and bake the day away, finally enjoying a feast filled with love and joy. For Upper School Science Teacher Mrs. Diamond, this was her annual Christmas tradition.

Mrs. Diamond, a fantastic baker who is always willing to bake you a birthday treat, says, “Cooking is a form of service for all of us” regarding her family. For most, cooking and baking are not just about the joy of the process, but about sharing a final product with others. Upper School Assistant Principal and Science Teacher Mrs. Newitt states, “I think there is joy in people appreciating the food that I give them.” She goes on to confirm that joy is the love for sharing with others through service. The ability to provide others with food, whether it’s baked goods or a home-cooked meal, is a labor of love. This labor of love connects people, fosters relationships, and creates connections. Whether it’s a simple meal or an elaborate dish, the act of cooking and sharing food embodies care.

College counselor Mr. Player and Upper School Economics and History Teacher, Mr. Hayes, agree with this sentiment. Mr. Player says that, as a kid, his family deeply influenced his love for baking. While he had never considered it service, he found that part of his love for baking came from the kindness of doing something nice for others. Mr. Hayes, on the other hand, found cooking as a way to connect with his wife and son. He says, “I not only show my son that guys can cook, but also force him to help me and learn from me.”  Mr. Hayes highlights that cooking helped bridge relationships with others. During his college years, Mr. Hayes spent time in Austria, where his love for cooking grew. He learned recipes as he continued his college education, honing his craft while adapting to the country. Mr. Hayes cites this experience as what built his knowledge of cooking. Now, he suggests that cooking connected him to his wife, as for most men, cooking is not a common skill or responsibility. Mr. Hayes utilizes his cooking skills throughout his life to foster connection and encourage his son to mirror this same behavior. 

Nostalgia, family tradition, and history are huge motivators in the love of baking and cooking. Mrs. Newitt grew up with a mother who was a fantastic cook; she echoes this in her own life each day, as she tries to collect and preserve recipes to share with her children and friends in a self-made recipe book. She shares this recipe book openly, offering to send it to anyone who asks. Furthermore, she adores when her friends and family update her on recipes they tried or when they love her baking or cooking. One of these recipes would be her scone recipe, which she very thoughtfully provided to connect with the student community. 

Mr. Hayes views his inheritance of the love of cooking differently, saying that his father was “a bad cook,” Still, he emphasizes that his father played an important role in his passion for cooking and his desire to share this love with his son. Creating new memories and hoping that his son will refer to him as “a good cook.”

Mrs. Diamond repeats this idea, as she grew up with family traditions of cooking together that have since ended, and she wishes they could come back for her daughter. “I worry more about how it’s going to affect my daughter and some of her generation in our family.” Cooking connected Mrs. Diamond’s family through gatherings and traditions; without this connection, she strives to foster relationships in other ways, but worries it may not work. Mr. Player offered a new perspective, one where nostalgia fueled his drive to cook. “I’m definitely a creature of habit,” said Mr. Player of his baking habits, highlighting his repetitive use of old family recipes as comfort recipes.

A pot of soup cooks on the stove top, as baked treats enter the oven in the compact kitchen. Christmas day approaches, and the best way to feed as many people as possible a warm pot of soup to welcome everyone in. Yet, baked treats finish the meal, filled with effort and love built from hours of baking. For Mr. Player, his mother’s strategy of cooking was practical. Yet, she always put in tremendous effort to make Christmas treats for the family. 

Memories of cooking show how important cooking is to many. Mrs. Diamond highlights a bad memory, but one that is deeply filled with joy. She laughed and smiled as she talked about the time she tried to make date pinwheels for a family Christmas dinner as a teenager, “I was maybe twelve or thirteen when I accidentally switched the amount of cinnamon with the amount of clove. And normally, you have much more cinnamon in a recipe and very little clove. And I totally messed it up. I was never allowed to cook that cookie dough ever again.” While this story may seem negative, Mrs. Diamond adored the memory, focusing rather on the experience and the joy of it than the mistake. 

Mrs. Newitt sees this same joy of cooking mentioned by Mrs. Diamond in memories with her kids, where she and her kids would spend entire snow days baking an extremely long recipe. She references the anticipation they felt awaiting a snow day and spending hours in the kitchen creating things like cinnamon rolls, which take ages to proof, and many other long-winded recipes they would spend the whole day making. Her eyes glisten as she paints the picture of a perfect day with her family, where she cemented loving memories for her kids, who still reference them into their adulthood.

It’s 7:26 am and blizzarding outside, a cold February day, where no one can handle waking up and grappling out of their duvet to get dressed. No light enters through the windows, as snow piles high outside. The phone rings, and silently, your mother gets up to answer. She never comes to wake you or your sister. She inches back into bed as you realize school is out, they called a snow day. You await a day filled with sweets and baking, where the kitchen smells like warm cinnamon and chocolate, the lights inside are warm and bubbly, and movies play as you, your sister, and your mother bake. For Mrs. Newitt, this was the typical snow day experience with her kids, one that created lifelong memories filled with love and warmth.

11th-grade student Sharon Chen says that her brother was hugely into cooking. Now that he has left for college, she misses the food he used to share. She feels that cooking offered her a connection to her brother; without him, the food doesn’t taste the same. As students and teachers expressed their love of cooking and baking, there was a constant return to the love of other people. Each teacher showed love for connecting with others; Mrs. Diamond beaming at the chance to talk about her recipes; Mrs. Newitt sharing her love for baking for her classes, family, and friends; Mr. Player sharing his passion for recipes to feel connected to his family and share this connection with students; and Mr. Hayes connecting with his son through cooking. Cooking is a vessel for love, which connects us beyond our differences.

It’s a warm summer day in June, filled with free hours as school has just gotten out. The cool breeze from the fridge entices even the worst cook to open its doors. Pasta boils on the stove top, as egg yolk and oil are creamed together into a thick, peppery carbonara sauce. The pasta is poured into a porcelain dish, where it is shared with the whole family. Sharon tries to recreate this, making her own carbonara in her brother’s absence, but it never tastes the same. She waits for him to return, so he can share his love with the family again. 

Recipes:

Mrs. Diamonds Ginger Cookies:

¾ cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 whole egg

¼ cup dark molasses

2 cups sifted flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon cloves

Cream butter and sugar, add egg, molasses, and the dry ingredients, sifted together. Form into balls the size of a small walnut, roll in granulated sugar, place 2 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350°F, 10 to 12 minutes.

Mr Player’s Coffee Cake:

Coffee Cake 1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

2 1/2 tsp. Baking powder

1/4 cup shortening

3/4 cup milk

1 egg

3/4 tsp. Salt

Heat oven to 375°. Grease the pan. Blend all ingredients.

Beat vigorously for half a minute. Spread in pan. Sprinkle topping over batter. Bake 25 to 30 min

Topping:

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

3 tbsp. Firm butter

Mix until Crumbly

streusel-filled – Spread ½ batter in pan. mix

½ cup brown sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup finely chopped nuts

2 tbsp. butter, melted. 

Sprinkle half the mixture over the batter in the pan. Top with remaining butter, then remaining brown sugar, bake.

Mr. Newitt’s (Tweaked) Mothers’ Scones:

Cream Scones

2 cups flour

¼ cup granulated sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. salt

1/3 cup chilled butter

¾ cup heavy cream

1 egg

1 ½ tsp. vanilla

½ cup currants, raisins or mini-chocolate chips(if desired)

Preheat oven to 425°.  Lightly butter a baking sheet.  In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Cut chilled butter into ½ inch cubes and distribute them over the flour mixture.  With a pastry blender or two knives, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  In a small bowl, stir together heavy cream, egg and. vanilla.  Add the cream mixture to the flour mixture and stir until combined.  Stir in currants, raisins, or mini-chocolate chips, if desired.  With lightly floured hands, pat the dough into a ½ inch thickness on a lightly floured cutting board.  Using a floured 2 ½ inch diameter round biscuit cutter or a glass, cut out rounds from the dough and place them on the prepared baking sheet.  Gather the scraps together and repeat.  Brush with 1 egg beaten with 1 tsp. water as a glaze if desired.  Bake 12-15 minutes.  Cool 5 minutes on wire rack.  Makes 14 scones. Serve with jam and whipped cream.

Mr. Hayes Lamb Ragu:

Ingredients:

1 carrot

1 celery stalk

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

1 lb ground lamb mince UK (500g)

1 cup red wine (240ml)

28 oz canned whole plum tomatoes (800g)

2 cups chicken stock 

2-3 rosemary sprigs

1 bay leaf

3-4 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper

For serving (optional)

1.1 lbs Pappardelle pasta or pasta of choice 

Pecorino cheese

Instructions:

1. Add 1-2 tbsp of olive oil to a Dutch oven or large pan and brown the lamb. Drain away the excess fat and transfer the lamb to a bowl.
2. Add another 1-2 tbsp of olive oil to the same pan you browned the lamb in and saute the finely chopped carrot, celery and onion slowly until soft but not browned (about 10 minutes).
3. Once soft, add the finely chopped garlic and saute until fragrant. Add the lamb back to the pan and mix to combine. Add the red wine and reduce by half.
4. Once reduced, add the stock and canned tomatoes. Break up the tomatoes with your spoon and stir to combine. Add the rosemary and bay leaf and a good pinch of salt and pepper.
5. Let the ragu simmer slowly on a medium-low heat, uncovered for 3 hours. If it starts to dry out too much add a little more water or stock.
6. Once ready, taste and add more salt as needed. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook your pasta of choice until al dente while keeping the ragu warm.
7. Once the pasta is cooked transfer it to the ragu and toss until completely combined in the sauce. Serve in bowls topped with pecorino cheese.