Lucy Knott - How to Bake a New Beginning

Sabrina’s eyes drifted round the table. She took in everyone’s features, everyone’s movements: her mother’s chocolate eyes sparkled with pure delight; Dad had his hands resting on his stomach as he leant back in his chair, stuffed and happy from all the food; Grandpa’s eyes twinkled; Nanna’s smile reached all the way to her ears, making her look twenty-one and carefree again; Amanda’s green eyes focused intently on the food in front of her and Louisa simply watched her grandpa, making sure he had everything he needed.

Everyone talked over one another, laughing uncontrollably in between devouring each piece of pizza quicker than the speed of light. In that moment, she felt content, like there truly was no place on earth she would rather be. All the stress and drama of work melted away like the mouth-watering mozzarella she was chewing; it was heaven on earth.

‘Grandpa, I sure have missed this,’ she said, holding her piece of pizza in the air, like it was a trophy.

‘You can get pizza in America, no?’ Grandpa replied with a cheeky grin.

‘Ha, you know as well as I do, Grandpa, that no pizza on the planet tastes as good as this. No one will ever be able to make it taste as amazing as you do,’ Amanda said.

Sabrina loved the passion her sister had for their grandpa’s food. It made her laugh hearing Amanda’s voice rise with pride when talking about his pizza.

‘It’s crisp, yet chewy, with the perfect amount of crunch, and it’s as light as air,’ her big sister continued.

Sabrina watched as Grandpa’s gaze met Amanda’s and he gave her a small wink. They were like two peas in a pod.

‘Hear, hear,’ Sabrina chanted, raising her wineglass now that her pizza had been demolished. She felt dizzy on love and Lambrusco, but her eyes threatened to roll back in her head. Amanda had been right: she not only looked exhausted, she absolutely felt it too. Her bones were heavy, her neck tight. She rolled her head from side to side, hoping it would loosen up.

‘It’s good to have you home, sweetheart,’ Dad said, raising his glass and clinking it against hers.

‘It feels great to be home, Dad.’ Sabrina smiled softly. It really did feel wonderful to be home. Her shoulders relaxed at the thought of not having to deal with her wouldn’t go amiss in a Disney villain line-up, Cruella de Vil of a boss, Lydia, for the next few days.

The warmth of the room and the bubbles from the Lambrusco made her feel a world away from LA. Tonight she was surrounded by the people she loved more than she could say, and who genuinely loved and cared for her. ‘ Buon compleanno , Grandpa,’ she shouted, raising her glass to the room once more. Seeing her grandpa’s face light up would keep jet lag at bay for a while longer.

‘ Mamma mia, grazie, grazie . How many girls have I got here now?’ Grandpa said. His voice filled the small dining room, his happiness radiating to each of them.

‘ Buon compleanno ,’ Nanna shouted, clapping her hands together. ‘Louisa, get the pandoro . Come on, come on.’ Nanna too was thrilled to have all her girls round the table together. Any time this happened was cause for cake and celebrations, but when it came to birthdays and special times like Christmas, Nanna looked like a child, her face etched with glee. She looked to her husband and whispered, ‘ Buon compleanno , my dear,’ before cutting a huge slice of pandoro and placing it in front of him. She then went back to cutting more big chunks of cake and passed everyone a piece. ‘Be happy, happy,’ Nanna continued. ‘Ahh grazie , God.’

Sabrina wasn’t sure her stomach could handle the mountain of pandoro in front of her, after eating so much pizza and drinking a fair bit of wine, in addition to jet lag that had now kicked in, but it smelt so buttery and delicious and Nanna was staring at her expectantly. Not eating it was not an option – it was never an option. Plus, she was only in town for a week. She had to eat all her favourites while she could get them, and it was Grandpa’s ninety-sixth birthday after all.

With these thoughts sloshing round her brain, she laughed to herself and took a huge bite. No sooner had the vanilla flavour hit her taste buds than her slice had gone. So much for not having any room left.

‘ Grazie , Nanna,’ she whispered, with a chuckle.

Ingredients:

Flour

Sugar

Egg

Milk

Butter

Nutella

What to do:

Mix around 4 tablespoons of flour with 2 teaspoons of sugar, an egg and a cup of milk, until smooth.

Heat up a saucepan and add a dab of butter.

Pour in a ladle full of pancake batter and swirl round like Grandpa does.

You will know when one side is done because small bubbles will form. Flip it over and cook the other side.

Smother in Nutella.

The birds were chirping in the garden. The whistles of the wintry winds could be heard through the glass. There was a peacefulness to a Sunday morning that Amanda couldn’t get enough of. It was her one full day away from work and that meant she was up at the crack of dawn ready for a day of spending time with family, catching up on reading, cleaning and actually getting to experiment in her own kitchen. Though she had taken yesterday off too – for the first time in a very long time – Sundays always felt special and she liked to make the most of them.

‘Rise and shine, sleeping beauties,’ Amanda said walking into her guest bedroom and opening the silk pink curtains wide, to let the morning sunshine boldly fill up the room.

‘Oh gosh, what time is it?’ Louisa whined, pulling her pillow over her face. She was lying next to Sabrina in the double bed.

Sabrina threw her arms up to shield against the imposing light. ‘Jet lag is a thing, Amanda – look it up. I need rest,’ she said, her eyes still firmly shut.

‘There’s no time for rest. You’re only here for a week. I told Grandpa we would pop over for leftover cake before we hit the shops. And I don’t get much time away from the kitchen, which means we won’t get much time this week to do said shopping, so, we are going to make the most of today,’ Amanda told them, cracking open a window to wake them up with fresh air, which received further moans.

‘Chop, chop. You too, Lou. With our work schedules we rarely see each other and you live fifteen minutes away from me – and that’s a bit pathetic,’ she added, with an edge to her voice that made Louisa sit up straight. Amanda wasn’t exactly blaming Louisa, she was mad at herself too. The schedule of a chef wasn’t for the faint-hearted.

Amanda busied herself with her routine Sunday morning cleaning while waiting for her sisters to get ready. She was halfway through dusting the window ledges when they appeared before her, surprisingly fully dressed and ready for the day. Amanda was the early bird out of the three of them. She did enjoy a lie-in every couple of months, but just like her grandpa, she always had something to bake. Cooking in the morning while still in her pyjamas had become a little piece of bliss for her.

Sundays were usually Sabrina’s only day off in LA. Amanda was aware of this fact, and knew Sabrina liked to sleep in, but she would have plenty of time for that on her vacation in the coming weekdays when everyone else was working. As for Louisa, an extra hour and grumpy would be kept at bay, but once they were at Nanna and Grandpa’s, Amanda knew her baby sister would be anything but grumpy. Nonni were special like that. Amanda just had to get her up and moving.

The clock had just moved past eight-thirty as Amanda, casually glam and put together in her black pinstriped trousers and oversized rose embroidered grey jumper; Sabrina in her usual floaty dress and tights ensemble, minimal make-up yet as gorgeous as ever; and Louisa with her sleek black blazer, skinny blue jeans and white Converse pumps, stepped out into the crisp December air, giant teddy bear coats covering their individual fashion tastes.