Bring Back the Flour Sifter

A new mint green sifter has got me sentimental about baking.

One Christmas when I was a kid, my Aunt Olga baked thumbprint cookies with my sister and I. Two things I remember: first, that it was SO GREAT to have permission to stick your thumb in a cookie, and second, that sifting flour through her vintage steel flour sifter was the best part of the prep. (Legend has it that I reminded my mom to not forget to “spank” her sifter the next time we baked together.)I fell out of the habit of sifting (whisking was my go-to as I tested no less than four cookie recipes this past weekend), but a recent post from one of my favourite food writers and chefs, David Lebovitz, has had me rethinking it.And once I saw this new mint green version from Trudeau, virtually a replica of my Aunt Olga’s sifter (but with three levels of mesh), I was in. Is there anything better than a touch of nostalgia at this time of year? Bring on the Christmas baking!Trudeau Flour Sifter, $19.99, for local retailers go to trudeaucorp.com