A recipe for your enjoyment

     This article was originally written last year to submit to a magazine for a section on recipes they requested from their readership. It was selected on an initial round and then about a month later, the magazine folded. $400 just trickled down the drain! So, I might as well make use of it. I have added a few full names and dates that were not in the original.

Scottish Shortbread

     This recipe arrived in the United States when my husband's paternal grandparents, Annie Mackie McAlister and David Buchanan immigrated. Davy arrived just before WWI and served for a short time in the service. Because of the war, his fiancee, Annie, didn't come to the United States until 1919, they married almost immediately and spent most of their lives in Boston. They had both been born in Glasgow, Scotland.

     Scotland is not known for its cuisine, but one of the recipes Annie brought with her is still made in the family, four generations later - Scottish shortbread. It was, and still is, traditionally made for the holidays and other special occasions.

     After Davy passed away in 1953, Annie spent more and more time with her only child, Stanley Mackie Buchanan and his wife Barbara Lindberg, and their family. At 82, after being mugged near her home in Boston, Annie finally agreed to live with them and moved to Houston, where they were living at the time. As Annie aged, Barbara took over the shortbread duties. Annie lived to age 97, died in 1986, and never lost her brogue, sense of humor, excitement for living, or enjoyment of her family.

     I joined the family when I married the oldest son, Bruce, in 1976. I had always loved baking, so naturally, as my mother-in-law got older, I began to take over the shortbread duties for family occasions. It was not easy to master the finer points. Annie never followed a recipe and couldn't tell you the measurements of the ingredients. One day, my husband's sister, Leslie, stood next to Annie as she "measured" out the flour, sugar and butter. Leslie put them in a measuring cup and wrote down the results. It worked! We had a recipe. But something we couldn't write down was how to determine the right consistency after mixing on the counter with our hands. It takes practice. It is always baked in old metal layer cake pans, cut in pie wedges and cooled on a rack.

RECIPE FOR SCOTTISH SHORTBREAD

     2 1/4-2 1/2 cups flour

     1/2 cup refined sugar

     1/2 lb butter - not quite room temperature, cut into pieces

         Blend the flour and sugar by hand, on the counter. Next, blend in the butter pieces. The consistency needs to be moist, but not sticky.

         Pat the dough into two round 9-in. layer cake pans. Press the fork around the edges of the shortbread to make a nice pattern. Prick around the top of the dough with the fork, all the way to the bottom. Bake at 325 degrees for about 30-40 minutes. It should be a nice golden brown color when done.  Cool slightly before cutting into small pie wedges and cool further before removing from the pans.  Gentleness is needed at this stage. We put a towel on top of the pan, and turn the pan over gently until the shortbread is on the towel. Transfer it to the cooling rack. Store in a covered metal container.

     Requests for shortbread are still lovingly granted by me for now, but our son is learning to conquer the recipe. He has made it for his friends and is the fourth generation in this country - one hundred years later, to make Scottish shortbread - brought here by Annie.