The Vine: December 12, 2012
I’ve got a “please help me find this song” request to put out there. My hard-to-buy-for boyfriend has heard a song in the yoga class we’ve been taking, and I’d like to get him a copy of it. Possibly an entire CD of the artist’s music if there’s one available. I don’t have much to go on though, and have come up empty with all the search queries I’ve put together.
The instructor of our class has it on her iPod, but it has no info attached and it comes up as “Unknown.” She told us she got it from a past instructor she is no longer in contact with, and she has no idea what it is or where it originally came from. This is all I have to go on:
- It’s sung, not chanted.
- It’s primarily a male vocalist, with a female voice occasionally coming in on back-up and to echo the chorus after the male sings it.
- It’s on the instructor’s playlist after a song by Krishna Das, and I’m quite certain it’s not him singing this song. His voice is lower and more gravelly than this vocalist.
- It’s relatively uptempo, but not frantic.
- It has a light-hearted, mellow tone to it.
- The only words I can pick out in the repeated chorus (spelled phonetically, since I don’t know exactly what I’m hearing) are: sa-te-yah mu-dre
I’m hoping that if this isn’t enough to unearth a song title and/or artist, maybe someone will at least be able to help me with the spelling of the couple words I’ve sounded out. I’ll take any help I can get!
Too busy trying not to fall out of downward dog to listen closely to the background music
*****
Please help! I’m looking for a specific Lemon Cookie recipe. The one I need is at least 40 years old — prolly a lot older, and involves curdling your milk before adding it to the batter by mixing it with lemon juice. The cookies produced by this recipe are almost spongy in texture, but the dough is thin enough to spread, and the edges are quite thin and crispy. These are drop cookies, topped with a sour lemon glaze. And delicious.
I have looked at countless websites, and trolled all my cookbooks. I cannot find it anywhere. My mom used to make these once or twice a year as a special treat, and since her baking is where she really shines when it comes to feeding people, they were like a sweet and sour gift from the gods.
I want to make these for my mom for Christmas (failing that, her birthday is in late January, and I could give them to her then) — she’s lost her original, and it would mean a lot to me to be able to make them for her.
Thanks a batch!
Genni
Tags: Ask The Readers hellooooo cookies popcult
Downward Dog, do you have the Shazam or SoundHound apps on your phone? Either one of those might be able to “listen” to the song and see if that unearths something. Satya means truth in Hindi, so that might help as well. Good luck!
DownDog: I can’t say for sure, since the song is probably a Sanskrit mantra that has multiple recordings out there. But check out the Gabrielle Roth and Mirrors album “Refuge.” It’s all Sanskrit chants sung by a Russian rock singer (whose name escapes me) with some female accompaniment. You might also have luck with Deva Premal and Miten — most of their tracks are sung by Deva (who is female) but they do some duets where Miten takes the lead. Sorry I can’t give you more than that!
Genni, using lemon juice to curdle milk is a common substitute for buttermilk. Is the recipe you’re looking for something like this (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Buttermilk-Cookies-241199) or this (http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/recipe-for-lemon-buttermilk-cookies/)? You would need to follow the second URL’s recommendation to add lemon zest to the glaze, but otherwise, it seems similar to what you’re looking for.
Genni, what are the cookbooks that you’ve checked? Just so that we don’t give you suggestions you’ve already ruled out.
Could it be Sufjan Stevens? I’m not super familiar with his work but whenever I read someone else’s description of his music they use many of the same descriptors.
I hope someone finds those lemon cookies, they sound amazing.
Genni, I wonder if what you’re really looking for is a buttermilk lemon cookie recipe? Adding an acid (like lemon juice or vinegar) to milk is a way to get a kind of substitute buttermilk to use in recipes, handy if you don’t keep buttermilk around. I could easily see that becoming the default instructions on a recipe. Anyway – give that a try. I found one that sounds similar: http://www.grouprecipes.com/89615/delicious-lemon-buttermilk-cookies.html
Good luck!
Not sure if this is exactly what you’re looking for Genni, but it does call for lemon and sour milk. There are a lot of recipes out there, just search “sour milk cookies.”
I don’t know the song Downward Dog is looking for but I highly recommend Shazam and Soundhound. I have both because sometimes one will pick up a song the other doesn’t. I’ve downloaded many a song thanks to their help identifying the artist/title.
Had the same problem in my yoga class a couple years back! I stopped the lady after the class was over and Shazam’d the song. Which isn’t your song, I’m sure, but I think that may work well for you.
I, also, was going to suggest Shazam-ing the song to see if that helps. Shazam has picked up quite a few songs where I’ve ALWAYS wanted to know what song that was!
Downward dog, is it maybe the title song from “Saathiya”? It sounds close to what you’re describing, but the female vocalist is rare or non-existent:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vMEtXqLh1A
Hi everyone, I’m the cookie lady – thanks for your help.
I did make it all the way to buttermilk cookies, but the problem is they don’t spread enough, and aren’t sweet enough. The density is also more like a regular sugar cookie, and the cookies I’m looking for are almost spongy, with a thinner dough.
I’m also willing to mod any recipe I find to get them closer to where they need to be. I tried this: http://www.dixiecrystalssugar.com/recipes/desserts/cookies-bars/lemon-drop-cookies last night, and they are good, but not it.
Does anyone know how I could get them to 1)rise less, and20 get “spongier”?
Rise less = bake at a lower temp for a longer time. This gives the butter more time to melt and spread.
For “spongier,” you may want to try changing the fat from just butter to a butter/shortening or a butter/oil mixture. Just butter tends to produce a crisper cookie.
Are either of these close to your cookie recipe? http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/lemon-knots-recipe2/index.html
http://www.laurainthekitchen.com/all/episode.php?episodenumber=398
Cookies, I’m not an expert baker, but you could try slightly increasing the baking powder/soda ratio. Both of them are specifically to make things lighter and spongier.
Are these your cookies?
http://ipso-fatto.blogspot.com/2012/03/lavish-on-lemon-sams-glazed-lavish.html
Or maybe these. The previous ones looked right but didn’t have buttermilk. These do have it, but can be flat or puffy. Interesting that it calls for shaken buttermilk. I think that if you can get to the taste you want, you can get the thinness by adding a little more liquid. If you add more fat, they will also spread, but it will add crispness.
http://www.yumsugar.com/Theirs-vs-Mine-Buttermilk-Cookies-1060304
Hi everyone — Downward Dog here. Thanks for the suggestions! I’ve ruled out Gabrielle Roth and Mirrors, Deva Premal and Miten, Sufjan Stevens, and the “Saathiya” title song.
We’re both ridiculously slow adopters of new technology, so are both still using ancient flip-phones. I may look into borrowing a friend’s smartphone to try one of the song identifier apps though to see if that clears up the mystery.
Maria, those both look right, but the second one (at least in the “theirs” picture) looks the *most* right.
I’ll try that recipe tonight!
I really appreciate all of your help! I knew the Nation would be the best place to ask; I can’t remember a time when an Ask the Readers went unanswered.
Sars, you have the best readers (and we have the best Sarah)
They’re awesome, no? And you know, a really great way to thank them would be to send me some of the cookies to test my P.O. box is in the FAQ kthxbai
Sars, don’t tempt me. This time of year, my love of baking runs smack dab into the fact that my husband and I want to lose weight. Don’t think I won’t send you a dozen cookies decorated with candy fruit slices…
Genni, I’m probably chiming in too late, and given Maria’s answer above (go, Maria!), you might not need a further reference, but these looked like they met your criteria pretty closely:
http://tinyurl.com/clm9chx
(If it were up to me, I’d leave out the yellow food colouring (HRRRRAAAAALLLFFFF!) and replace the lemon extract with a few drops of baker’s oil of lemon. Oil of lemon is awesome in a little teeny bottle! Stores that sell cake-making/decorating supplies and online sources like King Arthur Flour will carry it.)
Awesome! I’ll be interested to know how the cookies turn out. It would make total sense if the Edna Lewis recipe is the one as she was famous in the 50s. I was reading a little about her and now I’m intrigued to read her books on the art of Southern cooking.
Nation cookie swap!
The first thing I thought of with those cookies was madelines because I was just gifted with a little box of lemony, spongy madelines this week. But they’re really more of a cake than a cookie and baked in a mold rather than dropped. Plus no soured milk. Still, you could experiment with a madeline recipe and a lemon glaze. http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2007/12/humpy-madeleine/
Not that purchasing the song wouldn’t be best, it would be great to get him the whole CD, etc. etc. but could you ask the instructor to give you a copy of the MP3? Then at least he would have his favorite song, and potentially you could share it around to some different people to try to get an ID.
Genni, if none of the Nation’s cookie recipes pan out, you might try writing to the folks at America’s Test Kitchen. If they don’t have the recipe, they will be able to explain the science behind the spongy/less rise thing so you can modify a recipe to get the results you want.
Hi Genni, my mom and I usually make a bajillion cookies for the holidays and we had a similar cookie in our repertoire for years. They were called Lemon Tea Cookies. We haven’t made them in years but I remember them clearly because they were a favorite of mine.
The recipe was in a book by Better Homes & Gardens called Cookies For Christmas – which seems to be available via Amazon – and it is similar to your description (thin batter, curdling w/lemon juice, glazing, etc.).
http://www.amazon.com/Better-Homes-Gardens-Cookies-Christmas/dp/0696012901
I am not at home right now so I can’t look it up to be 100% certain, but I found a Better Homes & Gardens recipe for a cookie with the same name that seems very familiar.
http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=594971
I hope that helps!