EASY SQUEEZY

THIS LITTLE LEMON LOAF HAS A SOFT TEXTURE AND A PUCKERY, BUTTERY GLAZE THE PERFECT AFTERNOON BAKE FOR A SNOW DAY.

- LEAH ESKIN

At Sumiko's house, we pinched rice balls between chopsticks. We gripped porcelain dolls stitched into dazzling kimonos. We hung from the frozen swing set until her mom called us back for a snack. "Chocolate ice cream!" I screamed.

"No," Sumiko corrected. "Chocolate and ice cream."

On the dining room table, spheres of vanilla waited in cut-glass bowls, alongside tiny foil-wrapped candy bars. Exotic-at least compared to my house, where we slurped tomato soup, sprawled among lumpy stuffed animals and munched on apple wedges.

Occasionally, Mom baked, and one afternoon she let me and Sumiko help.

She mashed butter into flour, cracked in eggs and set the mixer to gnashing. Our job was to spoon batter into the cupcake pan. We furrowed our 5-year-old brows. Mom instructed us to swipe any drips from the tin's flat surface. Otherwise, they would burn.