A friend in Norway sent me this recipe.  I sent it to Hunton who made it for his roommates, he pronounced it a winner. On his recommendation, I made it for a group of friends, definitely a winner. It is incredibly easy. No crust to make and roll out, no need to peel the apples, just mix everything together and bake.

Swedish Apple Pie
1 egg
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons sugar mixed with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 generous cups of coarsely chopped apples
(Optional: Add 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts)

1) Mix first 6 ingredients together to make a thick batter.
2) Stir the apples and nuts into the batter, mixing well.
3) Pour into a well buttered 9-inch pie pan.
4) Sprinkle the top with the mixture of sugar and cinnamon.
5) Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until the apples are easily pierced with a fork and the batter looks dry.

Serve warm or room temperature with ice cream or whipped cream.

This was so easy and so good. Of course the ice cream or whipped cream are my choices but it is good without either

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first week of July I spent a few days on the island of Vieques just off the coast of Puerto Rico. The rustic lodge was in the rain forest with the sound of frogs peeping lulled me to sleep and the chirping of birds wakened me. There I feasted on tropical fruits. Every morning the day started with mangoes and starfruit picked from trees just outside our door.

The fruit season here at the orchard starts slowly in June with the queen of fruit, strawberries. Before we get our fill of those, suddenly the raspberries and cherries and blueberries and peaches are ripening. I have blueberries on my cereal, snack on cherries mid-morning, eat a peach for lunch and make raspberries smoothies in the evening. Summer wealth.

Walking through the orchard I see the pears and apples, still small and green but I know that by the end of August they will start to ripen as the summer fruits finish for the year.

There was a time when I would have been baking daily making pies and crisps and rich fruit desserts but I don’t do that much anymore. Lemon squares were always a family favorite. I discovered they are even better with blueberries added. They freeze well so it is worth making some to keep on hand for an occasional treat. I cut them into squares, freeze them on a tray without them touching each other. Once frozen I can put them together in a container.

Lemon Blueberry Squares

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients 
2 cups flour
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, cut into small pieces

4 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 cups fresh blueberries

Method
1. Mix the flour and the powdered sugar together. Process with the butter in a food processor or cut the chunks of butter into the flour and sugar with a fork or fingers until the dough holds together when pressed.
2. Press the mixture firmly over the bottom of a greased or parchment paper lined 9x13-inch baking pan. Bake in a 350-degree oven until the crust is golden, about 20 to 25 minutes.
3. While the crust is baking mix sugar, flour and baking powder together. Whisk the eggs with the sugar mixture. 
4. Whisk in the lemon juice and lemon peel, then stir in the blueberries.
5. Pour the egg mixture over the browned crust. Return to the oven and bake until the filling is just firm and does not move when the pan is gently nudged, about 25 minutes. 
6. Remove from oven and cool on a rack. 

Cool completely before cutting into bars.

The annual Polish Picnic occurred in Ipswich a few weeks ago. My friend Ann Fessenden told me that she’d bought some galumpkis at the picnic. “What are galumpkis?” I asked.

It turns out they’re Polish stuffed cabbage. I’ve actually made them a few times but not in many years and I just called them “stuffed cabbage”. They sounded good but as I recall, quite a bit of work. Ann had found a recipe called Lazy Man’s Stuffed Cabbage that tasted as good but was much easier to make.

I made the recipe. It was a big hit, a nice Autumn dish. It made a large amount, enough for a crowd or lots of leftovers. I made a couple of changes, the recipe called for tomato soup to be poured over the top before baking, that didn’t sound so appealing to me. Instead, I used crushed tomatoes and added a few things.

Ingredients

• Medium size head of cabbage
• 2 lbs lean ground beef
• ½ lbs cooked bacon coarsely chopped
• 1 medium white onion
• 1 medium green pepper
• ½ cup Italian flavored bread crumbs
• 1 cup cooked white rice (1/3 – ½ cup uncooked)
• 1 egg

   

  Sauce

• 1 large can crushed tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven 375 degrees.
2. Cook rice and set aside to cool.
3. Coarsely shred the cabbage it thick long pieces and set aside.
4. Chop the bacon coarsely and saute until crisp. Remove from pan.
5. Dice the onion and green pepper and saute in the bacon fat. Discard remainder of the fat.
6. In a large bowl, add meat, bread crumbs, onion, peppers, bacon, rice, egg and salt and pepper.
7. In a 9X13-inch pan, place a layer of the shredded cabbage so that the bottom of the pan is completely covered.
8. Add the meat mixture on top of the cabbage and press into the shape of the pan.
9. Add another layer of cabbage to cover the meat mixture.

Mix tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper together and pour over the casserole. Cover with aluinum foil and bake for two hours until the cabbage has softened and the flavors well blended.

One of the difficult things about getting older is the number of friends and family that we begin to lose. Last week our dear cousin Marlene died after a brief illness. She was a stunningly beautiful blonde of a certain age (as the French say) who was a talented artist, fabulous cook, devoted wife and so much more. Her genealogy research had expanded to include over a thousand family members and she had recently completed all the documentation necessary to prove that she was descended from John Alden. She had just been accepted as a member of the Mayflower Society.

Marlene and her husband, my cousin, lived in Jackson Michigan but her heart belonged in New England where her ancestors had lived. They made yearly pilgrimages to Massachusetts researching family and enjoying Crane Beach, Rockport, Exeter, New Hampshire and Cape Cod.

Marlene was happiest when entertaining with beautiful china and flower arrangements and sparkling crystal. When we visited even breakfast was served in style. She was known as an excellent cook but it was her pies that made her famous in her part of the world. She thought nothing of baking five or ten pies for a party so that each guest would have their favorite.

Marlene is one of a growing number of friends and family who have gone from our lives in the past few years. It is inevitable but sad and brings up my own feelings about mortality. I’m determined to live each day to the fullest. I think sometimes of my friend of the 1970s, Charlotte Martin, who was in her eighties. She said that she was so grateful for her young friends since all her contemporaries were gone. I’m fortunate that I not only have young friends but also grandchildren.

A couple of Marlene’s recipes:

Marlene’s Chocolate Trifle

1 package of Fudge Brownie Mix (or your own brownie recipe)

¼ cup of praline or coffee liqueur

1 can of chocolate pudding (or your own recipe)

8 Heath Bars

1 cup heavy cream

1. Bake brownies in a 9×13-inch pan. When done prick the top with a fork at one-inch intervals and pour the liqueur over the top. Set aside to cool completely.

2. When the brownies are cool, crumble and put half into a trifle bowl.

3. Spread ½ the chocolate pudding on top.

4. Break the candy bars (pounding them with a rolling pin works well) and put half of them over the pudding.

5. Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Spread ½ over the candy layer.

6. Repeat layers ending with whipped cream.

Chill at least 8 hours. It can also be frozen.

Marlene’s recipe calls for mixes but I always make my own. I add nuts along with the candy bars, she crushes peppermint candy to garnish the top. Any way, it is rich and delicious.

Marlene’s Oriental Salad

½ head Napa cabbage

½ head Bok Choy

Some romaine

2 packages Ramen noodles (Do not use the seasoning packets)

8 ounces slivered almonds

1 ounce sesame seeds

1 stick butter

1 bunch of green onions, chopped fine

1. Lightly brown almonds in a frying pan.

2. Melt butter in another pan and brown crumbled noodles. Remove from heat and add almonds and seeds. Set aside to cool.

Prepare greens and onions. Just before serving, toss all together with the cooled dressing.

Dressing:

¾ cup virgin olive oil

¼ cup vinegar

½ cup sugar

1 teaspoon soy sauce

In sauce pan combine all ingredients. Boil one minute then cool.

A few weeks ago my sister visited from Michigan. Our usual breakfast is cereal but I thought I’d like to do something a bit nicer for one morning. I made a German Apple Pancake, a family favorite that I had put in the Grammy’s Kitchen cookbook. Unfortunately, I forgot to add the flour. We had something like an apple omelet, edible but not what I’d planned.

Last week I tried again, this time combining parts of the original recipe with another from the book, Apple Puff Oven Flapjack. This one was a success.

This has been a bumper apple season so for anyone with a surplus, I’m sending along my adapted recipe.

Puffy Apple Pancake

Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Ingredients
3 tablespoons of butter
3 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1-2 tart apples
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Method
1. Make the batter in a blender, or in mixing bowl with whisk. Beat together the eggs, milk, flour, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. Reserve brown sugar for topping. Let stand while preparing apples.
2. Peel apples and slice thinly.
3. Melt the butter in a 9 or 10 inch oven proof skillet. (A well seasoned iron skillet is perfect) Place the apple slices in the butter.
4. Return to the oven until the apples sizzle. Don’t brown them.
5. Pour the batter over the apples and sprinkle with brown sugar.
6. Bake 20-25 minutes until puffed and brown. Serve immediately dusted with powdered sugar.

One of the best food discoveries from our trip to Stockholm was the dessert, Pannacotta. It is apparently an Italian dessert that is quite common but I’d never eaten it. It was so smooth and light and delicious that I kept trying it in different restaurants.

Once home I was determined to replicate it. I found many recipes online. They all stressed how simple it is to make and how versatile it is. Although a simple vanilla flavor it can be served with any kind of fruit or chocolate or other sauces.

Some recipes called for boiling the cream, others said to just bring the cream to a simmer. I’ve always thought that cream shouldn’t be boiled so used the simmer method. My first two attempts fell short.

My first effort was a disappointment. The flavor was perfect but a thin layer had formed on the top disrupting the smoothness that should have been perfect. I tried again using another recipe, this time it didn’t set well enough to unmold although the flavor was again great.

Undaunted, I tried again combining two recipes to achieve success. I softened the gelatin in milk, heated it just enough to melt the gelatin and then removed from the heat and added the other ingredients. The whole process didn’t take more than five minutes. I did have some trouble unmolding the ramekins. I set the base in warm water and ran a thin knife around the edge but it was difficult. Several recipes suggested oiling the molds with a thin coat of oil or butter. I’ll try that next time.

Pannacotta

1 envelope unflavored gelatin
½ cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
2-1/2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

Place milk in a small saucepan and sprinkle gelatin on top to soften. Once softened, heat milk until just under a simmer. Remove from the heat and stir until the gelatin is fully melted. Add cream, sugar and vanilla and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Allow the mixture to reach room temperature, pour into ramekins or small sauce dishes or wine glasses and refrigerate until set, 4 hours or longer.

Makes 6 servings.

In a few short weeks the orchard has been transformed. From rabbits standing on snow drifts nibbling treetops to trees loaded with tiny apples. Unfortunately full bloom occurred while we were visiting my sister in Michigan so we missed it this year.
The orchard in bloom is a stunning sight. One day there are little fat green buds tipped with white, a few days later there’s an explosion of pink and white blossoms. One would think that after the hard winter the bloom would be later than usual but it was right on schedule in mid-March.
We’ve been gorging on fresh asparagus. It is a treat to be once again eating vegetables a few hours from the garden. Usually I peel the lower ends of the asparagus and quickly cook them in a shallow pan with a little water but occasionally I like to make Asparagus with Butter Sauce and Parmesan Cheese.
This is a recipe that I first had at an Easter dinner eleven years ago. Lorraine Weinberg, a friend from Andover, had prepared it. She shared the recipe with me before she moved to New York City and we lost touch. I don’t think she’d mind my passing it on.

Asparagus with Butter Sauce and Parmesan Cheese
1 pound of asparagus

Peel the tough outer skin from the ends and steam, covered, for 2 to 5 minutes until bright green and just tender. Run under cold water to stop the cooking. Pat the stalks dry and line them in a shallow layer in a baking dish.

Butter Sauce
¼ cup butter
1 clove minced garlic
1 finely chopped shallot
¼ cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice with zest from the lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Drizzle the Asparagus Butter over the asparagus.
Bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes.
Sprinkle with fresh grated Parmesan cheese
Broil 1 minute until lightly browned
Serve immediately

It’s a long time since I’ve made New Years resolutions. I never seemed to get past the first couple of weeks without breaking them. The past few years I’ve tried to spend some time on New Years Day thinking of the highlights and lowlights of the year. I’ve been so lucky that the highlights always out number the low ones.
One highlight has been communicating with people important to me who live far away. The Internet and email have made it possible to keep in touch with family and with friends scattered across the country and the world. Once upon a time I wrote letters. Early in our marriage we moved across the country to California. Frequent letters kept me in contact with the people I loved. In those days long distance telephone calls were way above our budget. As time passed, the letters became less frequent as the arrival of children and community commitments made it more difficult to find the time. Now it takes no time at all to dash a note off to someone.
Highlights were many in 2014. I had a week with my sister on three occasions, always at the top of a highlight list. Another big event was our grandson Alex’s marriage to the lovely Jessalyn in September. There were so many other good times with family and friends that they’d take a page to mention.
For an intrepid traveler, 2014 was an especially good year. Two trips to the Dominican Republic, Maine, Florida, Michigan, Baltimore, New York City, Cape Cod, Berlin and France.
Lowlights were Max’s need to have a pacemaker and an injured shoulder that I sustained while swimming. The saddest news of the year was the end of our granddaughter Crystal’s marriage. We are hoping that this will be a year of good things for her.
Yesterday I finished my year end tasks at the orchard and tomorrow I will join Max in the sunny Caribbean for the winter months. I’m already planning trips for the spring and summer. The planning is almost as much fun as the travel itself.
To start the year I’m posting a recipe that I made this week. It was once a staple at our table but it’s been years since I’ve used packaged and canned food. I remembered how much the family had loved it and decided to ignore all the chemicals that go into processed food. It turned out just as I remembered. Delicious.

Pork Pot Roast

3 or 4 pound pork loin roast (a beef roast is just as good)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 packet dried onion soup mix
Pepper to taste

Put the roast in a deep casserole or Dutch oven. Dump the soup mixes on top. Add ½ can of water, cover tightly and bake at 250 degrees for 3½ hours. The soups make a rich gravy to pour over mashed potatoes and the low oven temperature keeps the meat from drying out.

I learned to make pies by watching my mother and grandmothers. The pastry was a pretty straightforward affair, a three to one ratio of flour to shortening (ex: 1½ cups flour to ½ cup shortening) with just enough water to hold it all together, 2½ to3 tablespoons per cup of flour.
Don’t work it too much, roll out on a floured surface and fit into pie plate. The fillings were another matter, as simple as some fruit and sugar or as elaborate as Strawberry Chiffon Pie or layers of different flavors and textures.
Over the years I’ve tried dozens of pie crust recipes. I’ve used all-purpose flour and pastry flour and whole wheat flour; butter, margerine, Crisco, and lard for the shortening and substituted vodka or cream or egg for the water. I’ve used different ratios of shortening to flour or used two different shortenings in the same crust. Most were good, some better than others.
Last week I found one that I’d never tried before. It was from the Cook’s Illustrated October issue and was a winner. The shortening (butter) is melted and mixed with the flour, no water needed to toughen the gluten in the flour. The result is a crunchy, yummy pastry. It makes a rich tart dough that is pressed into the pan rather than being rolled out. It is sturdy enough to prevent the edges sliding down the sides of the pan when it’s pre-baked before filling. It makes the use of pie weights unnecessary.
I used it as the base for a French Apple Tart and served it to two friends who are fabulous bakers. It got raves all around. I pass it on to you with thanks to Cook’s Illustrated.

Rich Tart Crust
1-1/3 cups flour
¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter

1. Melt the butter.
2. Stir the flour, sugar and salt together.
3. Stir the butter into the flour mixture until thoroughly mixed.
4. Press the mixture into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Use two-thirds of the dough for the bottom. Press the remaining dough around the fluted edges of the pan. Press to make and even thickness.
5. Set tart pan on a baking sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven until deep golden brown.
This tart shell can be filled with a cold filling or can hold a filling that needs to be baked.

The apples for this tart were pre-cooked on top of the stove for ten minutes. I tossed the slices with a tablespoon of butter and 2 tablespoons of water in a covered 12-inch skillet. This softened them enough to allow them to be arranged in the spiral and to shorten the baking time. I baked the tart for about 30 minutes. The top was glazed with a bit of melted apricot preserves and placed under the broiler for a couple of minutes.

“Did I ever tell you I like fish,” Max would say whenever we passed the fish counter in the supermarket. His way of suggesting we buy fish. I like fish but cooking it can be pretty monotonous. I can bake it or fry it but feel like it’s a bit boring. I have developed some recipes for scallops but fish has been a challenge.

Laura, our daughter occasionally offered me fresh fish that she had gotten from “Kim the fishman”. He brought it to her house and put it in the refrigerator while she was away at work. I should get some I’d think but didn’t do anything about it. It wasn’t until Laura sent me his email address and a blog post about Kim that I contacted him. http://dianecarnevale.blogspot.com/2014/02/kims-fabled-fish-route.html. For the past month we’ve been enjoying the fish that Kim leaves in our fridge each Wednesday morning.

In my childhood fish was either fried fresh lake perch with a gazillion bones, small and sweet but hard to eat, or frozen fish, not the breaded fish sticks that one of my grandchildren considers “fish” but just frozen fillets that my mother cooked some forgettable way.

My sister remembers with some clarity my first attempt to cook fresh sole. She was ten and I was newly married. I dipped the fish in flour and fried it, and fried it and fried it. When I attempted to scrape it out of the pan, it was a crumbled mess. My husband looked at it and said, “I can’t eat that mess”. I left the table crying and my sister never forgot. It was some time before I attempted fish again and not until I’d turned to my cookbooks to discover that fish needs quick cooking and gentle treatment.

A few months ago I found a recipe for fish cakes with corn that I’ve adapted. It has become a favorite meal as well as being a recipe that can be frozen and pulled out when time is short.

Corn and Fish Cakes

Ingredients
1/2 pound fish fillet (I use haddock, salmon or cod, anything will work)
Salt and pepper
1 cup corn kernels
1 large russet potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks (8- 10 ounces)
1/2 tablespoon butter
2 – 3 slices bacon, minced
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice (about 1 cup)
1/4 – 1/2 cup onion, minced
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
1 egg, beaten
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh parsley leaves
Oil for pan frying the cakes

1. Cook the fish quickly. I lay it in a frying pan with a little water and simmer until just done,3-4 minutes.
2. Boil the potato is salted water until fork-tender. Mash the potato coarsely with the butter.
3. Cook the bacon over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until the bacon is crisp and the fat has rendered. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel and set aside. Sauté the bell pepper and onion in the fat for 5 to 8 minutes, until softened. If the corn is fresh and uncooked add it and sauté for an additional 1 to 2 minutes. (Not necessary if it is frozen or canned). Allow to cool.
4. Beat the egg in a large bowl. Add the fish (coarsely flaked), potatoes, bacon, onion–corn–bell pepper mixture, bread crumbs, cheese, red pepper, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Use a 1/4-cup dry measuring cup to form the mixture into 1/2-inch-thick cakes. Refrigerate for at least one hour, or up to one day. (Freeze excess uncooked cakes for another day)
5. To cook the fish cakes, heat 1/4 inch of canola oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat until shimmering but not smoking. Fry the cakes in batches, for about 3 minutes per side.
Makes 8-10 cakes

One of the tasks my mother insisted every woman should know was how to cut up a chicken. Our Sunday dinner was frequently chicken that had been bought from a farmer on Saturday. Often it still had pin feathers to be plucked out and then it would be singed over the open flame of the gas stove (little hairs were sometimes abundant on the wings) and then cut into pieces.

It was a good skill to know later when I was preparing food my family. Whole chickens were much cheaper that parts and scraps could be simmered to make stock for soup.

Fast forward fifty years and I’m using my chicken cutting skill to dismember an enormous turkey. We grow our turkeys large here at the orchard. Unfortunately there aren’t that many occasions during the year when twenty people come to dinner and need a thirty pound turkey. Thus I spent the afternoon struggling with three well sharpened knives and a very large bird.

At the end of the day I had two 2-pound drumsticks, two thigh roasts, pounds and pounds of cutlets and enough scraps for several packages of ground turkey. Best of all, the bones and bits went into my stock pot with an onion, celery stalks and leaves, a couple cloves of garlic, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, salt, pepper and a handful of fresh sage from my garden. It simmered all night on a very low fire. In the morning I strained all the solids out and reduced the liquid by about half. The bones and scraps went into the compost. I’m left with two quarts of lovely, intensely flavored stock for soup or to enhance gravies.

Everything is now tucked safely away in the freezer for future dinners.

Turkey Gravy for Thanksgiving dinner
Turkey gravy doesn’t need a recipe but here’s the way I do it. It can be done the day before to make dinner preparation easier. The first thing is to make a stock from the giblets.

Place the turkey neck and giblets in a pot with enough water to cover.
Add:
1 onion
1 stalk celery
1 carrot
1 clove garlic
Salt and pepper
½ teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon sage
Simmer all ingredients together until the meat is tender, a couple of hours or so. Remove the turkey meat from the broth. Puree the remaining vegetables with the broth, either in a blender of with an immersion blender. This helps thicken the final gravy as well as adding flavor. Pull the meat from the neck, chop the heart and gizzard and add them. (I omit the liver in this step) This can be done a day ahead and refrigerated.

Roast the turkey. Remove from the roasting pan and cover with foil. I put several tea towels on over the foil to keep the heat in while the turkey rests and reabsorbs the juices.

Whisk together until smooth ½ cup of flour and 1 cup of water. Reserve.

Pour the drippings into a bowl letting the fat rise to the top. Deglaze the pan with a couple of cups of chicken stock scraping up all the brown bits in the bottom of the pan. (I use my rich turkey stock here instead of chicken stock) Spoon most of the fat off the drippings and discard. Pour the drippings back into the roasting pan. Add the reserved puree/stock made from the giblets. Heat until bubbling. Add salt and pepper to taste. If it looks like it isn’t enough gravy, add more chicken stock and simmer a few minutes to meld the flavors.

Stirring constantly, slowly pour the flour/water mixture into the gravy until it is the desired consistency.
Serve hot!

The sudden drop in temperature makes it perfect soup weather. Yesterday I made Creamy Cauliflower Soup from a recent Cooks Illustrated. It is good but the white color reminds me of the Cream of Wheat breakfast cereal that I used to make for the children. Not that appetizing.

Most often I make soup with leftover chicken or turkey, simmering the bones with onions and herbs, adding any meat scraps and any vegetables that are in the refrigerator. It turns out differently each time but always flavorful and warming.

The bins of pumpkins and squash at the orchard are reminders that this is the season for Pumpkin Soup. I like to cut a couple of small sugar pumpkins in half, brush the cut edges with a little olive oil and roast them cut side down. By the time it they are tender, the pumpkin touching the roasting pan has caramelized adding depth to the flavor.

This is my daughter Laura’s recipe. It is a hearty soup, a meal itself with some good crusty bread and butter. You can substitute the pumpkin with any winter squash, such as buttercup or acorn. Once the pumpkin is cooked, the soup comes together very quickly.

Laura’s Pumpkin Soup

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

Ingredients
1 small onion
2 tablespoon olive oil
4-5 cups cooked pumpkin (approximately 2 small sugar pumpkins)
2 cups water or stock
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon red pepper (optional)
2 cups cream (can be heavy or light cream or milk depending on taste)
Pepper to taste
Chopped parsley or croutons for garnish

Method
1. Halve the pumpkins, scoop out the pulp and seeds and place face down in a baking pan with a little water on the bottom. Bake for about 45 minutes or until a fork slides easily into the flesh of the pumpkins. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to the point of handling.
2. Chop the onion finely and, using the olive oil, sauté on the stovetop on a medium-low flame for about 5 minutes or until the onions are translucent. Take care not to brown them too much. You want them soft but not crispy.
3. Scoop out the cooked pumpkin from the skins and place in a soup pot over a medium-low flame.
4. Add the onions, water, nutmeg, red pepper, salt and pepper and stir well. If the mixture seems too dry you can add more water. It should be the consistency of porridge.
5. Cook the mixture for about 3 to 4 minutes, stirring regularly.
6. Reduce flame to low and add the cream. Stir into the mixture and heat long enough for the soup to become hot. Serve with parsley or crouton garnish.
For a creamy soup, use a food processor or an immersible blender after step 4 to purée the mixture.

Makes approximately 6 servings.

Julia Child probably had the greatest influence on my culinary aspirations and accomplishment. Last week was the 100th anniversary of her birth. Television and newspapers have been celebrating her life with a series interviews with people who knew her and reruns of her early French Chef shows. I’ve been thinking of how she changed my whole way of thinking about food.
I grew up in a small Michigan town. Cookbooks weren’t necessary, our mothers cooked the same things their mothers had cooked. Friends shared recipes on handwritten index cards. Gelatin salads and casseroles featuring canned soups were just coming into vogue fueled by the new focus on packaged foods. It was a time of Penny Suppers in the church basement featuring meat loaf, scalloped potatoes and coleslaw prepared by the women of the church and carried to the event in baskets. Sunday dinners were chicken and dumplings or a chuck roast baked until it fell apart.
My mother could stretch a pound of hamburger to feed a dozen people and a can of salmon took many different guises. These were the years following World War II. The pressure cooker was the miracle convenience of the day. My father didn’t like “tough” meat so on the rare occasions when we had steak, into the pressure cooker it went. It came out as easy to cut as butter and as tasteless as an over cooked hamburger.
Julia and Mastering the Art of French Cooking came into my life as a Christmas gift in 1962. I was hooked. It was the beginning of an education and a quest for new and different foods. There were obstacles. Nowhere could I find the cheese for the Quiche au Fromage de Gruyère. I scoured the shops in nearby Lawrence and then into Boston’s North End. Alas, the North End had many cheeses unknown to me but not Gruyère, nor could anyone tell me what might be an acceptable substitute. I’d never bought a mushroom but the Boeuf Bourginion required them. It turned out they were delicious.
It was years before I found capers or artichokes or endive and I never did find (or look for to tell the truth) sweetbreads.
I soon acquired an assortment of wooden spoons and wire whisks and longed for a copper bowl for beating egg whites (quite beyond my budget). I did get the Julia recommended omelet pan for my birthday one year as well as a charlotte mold.
Who could resist Julia’s description of roasting a chicken? “to produce a juicy, brown, buttery, crisp-skinned, heavenly bird… does entail such a greed for perfection that one is under compulsion to hover over the bird, listen to it, above all see that it is continually basted, and that it is done to just the proper turn.” Never let it be said that I neglected a chicken or the opportunity to make something outstanding.
The Veau Prince Orloff (Veal Gratinéed with Onions and Mushrooms) was worth the time it took but it’s been years since I’ve made it. On the other hand, the Suprêmes de Volaille À Brun (Chicken Breasts Sautéed in Butter) and the Crème Pâtissière (Custard Filling) have become old stand-bys.
Watching reruns of The French Chef this past week has brought back memories of many fabulous meals and what fun it was just watching Julia and reading Mastering the Art.

Crème Pâtissière
This is my version of Julia’s recipe. I’ve learned that it can be made just as well with fewer steps. To a purist it might not be quite the same but it’s incredibly rich, easy, and good.

2/3 cup granulated sugar
5 egg yolks
½ cup flour
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon butter
1-1/2 tablespoon vanilla or 2 tablespoons rum, orange liqueur, or instant coffee.

1. Place sugar and egg yolks in a blender and blend until pale yellow.
2. Add flour and blend until it is completely absorbed, scraping sides often.
3. Dribble the milk into the blender as it is going.
4. Pour into a sauce pan and set over moderately high heat. Stir constantly with a wire whip or wooden spoon. It will become lumpy but smooth out as you beat it. When it reaches the boil turn the heat down a bit and cook 2 or 3 minutes to cook the flour.
5. Remove from heat and stir in butter and flavoring.
6. Cool
This makes a wonderful filling for a cream pie, just slice bananas between two layers of the cream or top with fresh berries. It’s also good for cream puffs and eclairs and anything else you might think of.

Hunton’s twelfth birthday was Sunday. Ten year old Cecelia and I were entrusted with baking his birthday cake. As is the custom in our family, the birthday honoree chooses the menu and the cake for the celebration.
Hunton requested a three layer cake. He wanted the bottom layer to be a banana pecan cake, like his dad’s last birthday cake. The next layer was to be chocolate, like his cake last year, and finally a coconut layer. I’m not sure where that idea came from but a search of the Internet finally came up with one that wasn’t just a cake mix with a coconut icing.
Promptly at ten Cecelia arrived and we set about baking. In less than three hours, we had three, two layer cakes cooling.
Hunton’s icing choice was whipped cream, as a lover of whipped cream, it was the perfect choice in my opinion.
Cecelia decorated it with pecan halves and a tasteful scattering of sprinkles. It was very well received. I now have the exact same cake in the freezer and can produce another three layer cake if anyone is interested.

The banana cake recipe came from an old cookbook and has been a family favorite since the early 60s. I’ve tried several others but they don’t compare to the lovely moist, banana flavor of this one.

Banana Nut Layer Cake

2 ½ cups cake flour, sifted before measuring
1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup mashed well-ripened bananas
1 teaspoon lemon juice
¾ cup buttermilk
¾ cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans

Sift flour and soda together. Set aside. Crush bananas to a fine paste, add lemon juice and stir in milk. Set aside. Cream shortening, add sugar gradually and cream well with shortening. Add eggs, one at a time, stir in vanilla.

Add dry ingredients alternately with banana mixture in 3 or 4 portions beginning and ending with flour.

Pour into greased and floured 9 inch baking pans. Bake 28-30 minutes, test with toothpick for doneness. Cool pans on rack 8-10 minutes and then turn cake onto racks.

The abundance of fruit and the July heat is doing me in. I can’t keep up with all the recipes I had sworn to try this summer. I bought a freezer a few months ago and have been trying to freeze some of the bounty since it’s too hot for baking. I’m looking forward to extending the taste of summer through the winter.
One of our favorite summer pies is Blueberry Glaze Pie. It calls for a quart of fresh berries, some to be mashed and cooked with sugar, water and cornstarch until thickened, then poured over the remaining fresh berries in a baked pastry shell. I posted the recipe here in July 2009.
Last week, I only had a pint of berries, not enough to make that pie but I did have a seven inch pie shell in the freezer. What to do? Improvise as my mother taught me too many years ago. I found a bit of currant jelly in the back of the fridge, and a little more apricot preserves. Together they made about ½ cup.
I baked the pie shell (only fifteen minutes in the oven), melted the jelly and preserves together in a saucepan on the stove, stirring well. I gently mixed the blueberries into the melted mixture and poured the mix into the shell. It chilled three hours and turned out to be delicious and without a doubt, the easiest pie I ever made.

All Spring we anticipate the first strawberries. The season is so short that we feel like we need to eat them daily. This year, we had our first taste the day before we left for Maine. That meant we missed a week of the very short season.
Once home I was determined to try all of the recipes I’ve gathered over the years. I’m a strawberry snob so I wouldn’t think of buying California or Florida berries. That means a race to see how many recipes I can make in three weeks. Not that we can eat them all. That’s where having lots of family nearby comes in handy.
A strawberry pie made with heavy cream, egg yolks, and gelatin was not bad but not great either (and strawberry pie should be great). Too much gelatin for the rest of the ingredients. A strawberry chiffon pie turned out much better.
Suddenly, while there are still some strawberries (smaller but sweeter) the raspberries and cherries are ripe. Eleven year old Hunton brought us Raspberry Mousse with the very first pint he picked. Since then, he’s made a raspberry pie, raspberry roll-up, and a cherry pie. I helped him with the pastry for the first pie, since then he’s gotten it down pat.
One pretty fail-safe recipe that is usually served with strawberries but is also delicious with raspberries, blueberries, or peaches is pavlova. I’ve always thought that it originated in Australia, Wikipedia says that it was named for the Russian dancer Anna Pavlova. Both Australia and New Zealand claim to have originated it after her performances there. The first time I had it was forty years or so ago in a small shop in Central Square, Cambridge where it was a specialty. Since then I’ve eaten it many times in England and Australia. Little wonder that it is common there, it is one of the easiest desserts ever.

PAVLOVA
3 egg whites
1 teaspoon vinegar
¾ cup sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch

1-1/4 cup heavy cream
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pint berries

1.On parchment paper draw a nine inch circle and place on baking sheet.
2.Place egg whites and vinegar in mixing bowl and beat until frothy and starting to hold shape. Beat in ½ cup sugar, one tablespoon at a time. Beat until glossy and holding shape.
3.Mix cornstarch with remaining ¼ cup sugar and gently fold into egg white mixture.
4.Spread the mixture on the parchment paper circle, making the edges higher to form a sort of hollow in the center.
5.Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour. Turn oven off and leave in oven for another thirty minutes.
6.Cool on rack.
7.Beat cream together with 1 teaspoon vanilla and ¼ cup sugar until it holds a soft shape. Spread over Pavlova shell.
8.Top with fruit and serve. Yummy!

I seldom make pies anymore. I’m only cooking for two and if I have guests there are such wonderful pies available at the orchard bakery that it doesn’t make sense. Just before Thanksgiving I suddenly had the urge. I made cousin Marlene’s pastry recipe instead of my usual. It makes enough for seven crusts. I decided to make 8 inch pies for the freezer. I made several apple pies but thought that a pecan pie might be good for my contribution to Thanksgiving dinner.
The mixture I usually use calls for dark corn syrup, something I try to avoid since reading Michael Pollan’s book The Omnivore’s Dilemma. I bought the corn syrup and then happened to run across a pecan pie recipe that doesn’t use it. It turned out to be a huge success. Unlike the corn syrup recipe, the pecans remained dispersed throughout the pie, rather than rising to the top. It also seemed less sweet, like it didn’t make my teeth hurt.
The recipe makes a ten inch pie, a deep 9 inch, or two eight inch pies .

Pecan Pie

1/3 cup white sugar
1-1/2 cups brown sugar
½ cup melted butter
3 eggs
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans

Beat eggs until well mixed then beat in the sugars and flour. Add the melted butter, mix well and finally add the milk, vanilla and nuts.

Pour into an unbaked pie shell and place in a 400 degree oven. Bake 10 minutes and then lower the heat to 300 degrees and bake an additional 50 minutes or until done. (Oven temperatures vary so timing is approximate. The pie is done when the center appears firm when shaken lightly)

Last weekend was the annual Apple and Wine Festival at the orchard with lots of special activities in addition to the wine tasting. I was asked to be one of the “celebrity chefs” and give a cooking demonstration. I chose to make miniature crepes filled with caramelized apples. They were fun to do and a big success.
The apples and batter I had prepared ahead of time and then cooked the crepes on an electric griddle while people watched. Crepes are basically thin pancakes and incredibly easy to make. The batter is fool proof and can be made a day or two ahead. They make great breakfast foods, equally good desserts, and can also be filled with something savory for a main course.
I still had five small crepes left when the apple filling was gone. I sprinkled cinnamon sugar on them to the approval of the five people who finished them off.

I folded these little ones into pockets to make them easier as finger food but the filling is usually put across the center of the crepe and then it is rolled.

Crepes with Caramelized Apples
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted
A blender makes short work of these and the batter will keep well in the refrigerator. If no blender, whisk in a large bowl.
1.Blend eggs and milk/water together with salt and sugar. Add flour and then melted butter. Blend or whisk until smooth.
2.Ladle batter onto a hot griddle or frying pan, smooth into a thin layer with the back of the ladle or swirl by tipping the pan. When the surface is set, turn and cook the other side. Remove to a plate. Crepes may be stacked and filled later, or filled and served immediately.

Caramelized Apples
4-5 tart apples
2 tablespoons sugar, white or brown
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup cider

Peel, core, and coarsely chop apples. Melt butter in a 12 inch skillet. Add apples and cook over high heat until bottoms starts to brown and carmelize. Stir frequently with a wooden spoon. Add cider and cook down until thickened. Cinnamon or vanilla can be added with the cider.

Fresh strawberries with a little ice cream or whipped cream makes crepes a great dessert. Spread them with jam and a sliced banana or try any other fruits that you like.
Leave the sugar out of the crepe batter and fill the pancakes with a meat or vegetable filling and they’re good for a main course. I’ve made them with a mixture of scallops, crab, and shrimp in a Bechamel sauce with a bit of sherry added, or chicken and mushrooms. Arranged in a baking pan, a light layer of the sauce on top and then sprinkled with a bit of cheese, they can be made ahead and popped into the oven just long enough to heat them through.
I’m always surprised that people are impressed by something so easy to make.