Friday, March 10, 2017

I'll Take Half: Secret Subject Swap

Welcome a Secret Subject Swap. This month 12 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts. Read through mine and at the bottom you’ll find links to all of today’s other Secret Subject participants.

Secret Subject Swap | www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics

My subject is: You receive a letter in the mail from an unknown person who tells you that they are your half-sibling. What would you do?
It was submitted by: Rena of The Diary of an Alzheimer's Caregiver .


First of all, let me tell you a secret. I'm a very skeptical person. This is no secret to my kids, who I tell over and over again not to open any emails from someone they don't know, and never ever to click on links in an email no matter what. And it's not a secret to any company I have an account with who, when they call me, I insist on hanging up on, looking up their number and calling them back myself. And still one of my credit cards got hacked a few months ago, dammit.

Anyhooo . . . you can bet your butt I'm gonna need proof. And it'll have to be pretty irrefutable proof too. Something I can independently substantiate. Skeptical ? Paranoid? Meh, potato/potaaato.

But if they can provide proof then let me be the first to say "welcome to the carnival." Don't know what they thought they were getting themselves into but my suggestion is that they're gonna need to strap on a seat belt for this family. We're a bit of a revolving door and if you're not careful you may just be swept in. Or out.

One year ago I was heartbroken when I wrote a post about the death of my former stepsister. In that post I talk about the way my family was constructed, and deconstructed over the years. I have had stepmothers, a stepfather, 4 stepbrothers and one step sister. 

There was a very uncomfortable (understatement) rift between my mom's and my dad's family (divorces tend to do that), and later between my dad's family and I over the way I cared for my grandmother. My former step mother and stepsister were gone from my life for many years as they understandably went their way and we went ours (see the "divorces" comment above). Relationships have come and gone and, thankfully, always seem to come back again. 

Bottom line is this, I value the time I spent with all of the people who have moved in and out of my family. I was glad to have reconnected with my former step sister. I am grateful to be in touch again with my former step mother. I will always miss my step brother Peter. I'm enjoying getting to know lost cousins as adults. My life is richer for all of these relationships.

So what would I do if I were to receive a letter from some unknown person who could prove that they are my half sibling? I'd say "half sibling? Sure, I'll take half. Come on by, I'll put a pot on, let's see what you're made of. Oh, and I'll bake . . ."  


White Chocolate Pistachio Pudding Cookies, Pistachio flavored cookies with white chocolate chips and chopped pistachios. | Recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #cookies #snack

White Chocolate Pistachio Pudding Cookies



Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts. Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

Baking In A Tornado signature | www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics





White Chocolate Pistachio Pudding Cookies
                                                                     ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Ingredients:
1 stick butter, softened
1 stick margarine, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
3.4 oz package Pistachio Instant Pudding Mix
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup white chocolate chips 
1/2 cup shelled, unsalted pistachios, chopped

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
*Cream the butter, margarine, brown sugar and sugar. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
*Starting on the lowest speed, beat in the flour, pudding mix, baking soda and salt. Once completely incorporated, mix in the white chocolate chips and pistachios.
*Drop by heaping teaspoon onto baking sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before removing them to cool completely.

18 comments:

  1. I always wanted a half sister...anything other than the four brothers I got stuck with!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Siblings are like the curly hair/straight hair thing. You always want what you don't have.

      Delete
  2. I would definitely be curious and, with some precautions, trying to meet them. I totally expected you to do some baking! 🍪

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Of course! Seems baking is my answer to most circumstances.

      Delete
  3. Biscuits I see biscuits I like the look of these biscuits for me they are biscuits not cookies just saying.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can call them biscuits or you can call them cookies, just be sure you try them.

      Delete
  4. I love pistachios!! We've been eating them constantly since Christmas. I'll bet they taste really good in cookies. I'll take a half-sibling, as long as she's a girl! I've always wanted a sister.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love how many people are telling me that they would embrace a surprise new sibling.

      Delete
  5. OK, this is a true confession time. The fact that my Dad was married one time before the marriage that produced me was hid from me until I was an older teenager (we're talking 1960's here). The one thing I asked when I was told was "did they have any children?" As an only child, this was important to me. I've always had a suspicion that this was not true, but I haven't tried to find out. I honestly do not know what I would do if I received "that letter". I think it would freak me out, at last initially. After that, I truly don't know what would happen. At 64, finding something like that out would be quite a shock. Afterwards, I might need an entire tray of those delicious sounding cookies.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What an interesting story. I hope in the small chance that it did ever happen that after you got over the shock you'd be intrigued. If they had searched for you and reached out to you, clearly they want to know you.

      Delete
  6. I'd have to have proof. Half siblings can be great or they can break your heart like mine did. Cookies look amazing. I see some of those in our future.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, proof is required. Maybe not for cookies, but for a relationship.

      Delete
  7. I agree, I'd need solid proof but the proof I see right now is that I need a cookie. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have a half sister I have met a couple times, but she never really wanted to be in our lives for reasons of her own, so I would definitely be skeptical if she suddenly reached out by letter.

    I made a butterscotch cheesecake using pudding a couple weekends ago, and now you have me wondering how a pistachio cheesecake with a white chocolate chip cookie crust would be. hmmmmm... what do you think?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think that sounds amazing, hope you let me know how it comes out. And I think I need to talk you into doing a guest post for me one of these days!

      Delete
  9. I would love it if my adopted son had chosen to meet his half brothers and sister but it never happened and probably never will. After reading your post, it helped me to take comfort in my son's choice to leave well enough alone :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad you've reached some level of comfort, Carol. Sadly, we can't make other peoples' choices for them, even our children.

      Delete

Warning: Comment at your own risk. I have Comment Moderation, meaning I approve all comments before they show up here. So go ahead, I'm not scared!