Vintage Rock (Sugar) Maple Solid One-Piece Rolling Pin by GranniesKitchen; licensed under CC BY 2.0

Porch Swing Chats

You can find newsletter archives featured here through April 30.

Post #100: Let the Good Times Roll!

The Great American Baking Tool

For this 100th blogpost feature, I’ve chosen something near and dear to me. A kitchen tool both simple and serene: the rolling pin.

There are sounds in life requiring no explanation; ones we recognize without even seeing them in motion.

Like a balloon when it pops, a rotary telephone ringing, the neighborhood kid dribbling a basketball down the driveway,

or the squeaky screen door of a rustic mountain cabin.

With all the years of time I’ve spent in kitchens here-and-there, one sound I still find soothing is that of a rolling pin in motion as it smooths out a lump of pie pastry. Each rolling pin has its own unique pitch and sound; the result of its mechanism in the handles, combined with the force or gentleness of contact with the dough.

Going back in my memory, I could’ve been blindfolded and still have known which of our family’s bakers was working their rolling pin magic in the kitchen. How? Just as the gait of each person is unique to their build and stature, everyone uses a rolling pin somewhat differently. And the best part is this: whoever operates one of these kitchen tools is in pursuit of creating a culinary treat!

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Making a Pastry Shell