MY HOMETOWN – CINCINNATI THE QUEEN CITY

FORTUNE magazine called Cincinnati the best run big city in the United States. LIFE magazine said “Cincinnati has one of the best police forces in the country”. TIME Magazine, on the other hand, once labeled Cincinnati “dowdy”!! Dowdy? Cincinnati? I knew there was a good reason why I don’t subscribe to TIME.

To Indians, Cincinnati was a calamity; to slaves, it was a promised land and to the REDS Baseball Team, it’s a place to play ball. To children on skates, it’s a seven-hilled impossibility, while to Proctor Gamble it was a place to make soap. To beer-makers it represented memories of “over the Rhine”. Which Cincinnati you know depends on your point of view…” from “Vas You Ever in Zinzinnati” by Dick Perry, published by Doubleday in 1966.

You may have heard of my hometown, Cincinnati—which I have written about several times on this blog. I was born and raised in Cincinnati; as were both of my parents. My paternal grandparents were German and Hungarian and came through Ellis Island by way of Rumania. From there they went to Cincinnati. Quite possibly, they had friends or other connections which led them to Cincinnati, which already had a huge German population by the time they got there.

My mother’s parents were definitely German as well but we know so little about their roots. My father’s parents immigrated to the United States when they were in their early twenties and we all grew up strongly influenced by our surroundings. North Fairmount was heavily populated by German Americans and Italians. South Fairmount was more heavily populated with Italians. My grandparents bought a house on Baltimore Street when their daughter, my Aunt Annie, was a toddler. (The story was that they bought this house “in the country” because my Uncle Hans was asthmatic. I guess North Fairmount was country to them, back then.)  The three storied big brick house was large enough to raise their children in, and when those children got married, they lived in separate apartments in the same house—until they could afford to buy a house on their own. My parents lived in the house on Baltimore until I was five years old. That meant they lived in my grandmother’s house for nine years. Some of those years were a part of the great depression and some were a part of World War II.

I have no real memories of living in the house on Baltimore Street although when I reflect on scattered early memories, I think some of those must have occurred when we were still living in my grandmother’s house.

Down the street from my grandmother’s house was St. Leo’s church and school. My father, his younger brother and their younger sister all went to St. Leo’s—not only that, but all three had Sister Tarcisius in the first grade—as did my older sister, older brother and me—along with two of our cousins. Sister Tarcisius taught first grade at St Leo’s for over fifty years before celebrating her Golden Jubilee as a nun and retiring to the convent in Oldenburg, Indiana.  There was a continuity to our lives back then—often when I became girlfriends with someone in my class and went to her home, a parent was sure to say “Oh, yes! Schmidts! I went to school with your father”. (Many years later, my youngest brother Scott would buy and remodel the house that had belonged to his first wife’s grandmother. When I first saw the house, I realized it had once belonged to my classmate Joan—whose younger sister, Val, became the grandmother from whom Scott bought the house.

Our neighborhood was all of North Fairmount and extended into South Fairmount in one direction and English Woods in another. Now, if you drive through these neighborhoods they are almost all downtrodden and ramshackle—a far cry from the neat and tidy brick houses that lined all the streets with geraniums in the front windows that were a part of our lives. I think we could have approached any house in an emergency for blocks around—not that anything serious ever happened. It wasn’t anything any of us ever thought about—we rode bicycles and skates and/or walked from one place to another without ever stopping to consider our safety or security.

There was a state of stability and absence of disruption throughout our lives, throughout the lives of our parents (despite the great depression and WW2) that can’t be found in Southern California where I have spent most of my adult life but I think still exists in most of Cincinnati, where girlfriends of mine who grew up in North College Hill married and bought houses near their parents’ homes, to raise their children in close proximity to their parents.

We took good cooking for granted, I’m ashamed to admit. I don’t think any of us ever stopped to think twice about my grandma’s exquisite Palascinta (Hungarian pancakes—like crepes); grandma’s strudels with dough made from scratch—we each had a favorite filling – mine was spicy pumpkin—but any of them, apple, cherry, or cheese, were to die for—or homemade noodles drying on the backs of kitchen chairs—or the German wurst sausages, delicious with a chunk of fresh-baked salt bread.

My grandmother made Dobos tortes with up to fourteen layers of sponge cake, spread with bittersweet chocolate frosting; she made dozens and dozens of cookies at Christmas-time—I only remember the diamond shaped cookies dipped in egg white and spread with finely chopped walnuts and sugar although my older sister swore there were many other kinds of cookies.

We went to grandma’s house for lunch most days of the week during the school year—her house was just a short walk up the street from St. Leo’s—and feasted on Hungarian goulash and salt bread, or a bowl of chicken broth which contained something WE called “rivillies” but which, I discovered in one of William Woys Weaver’s books—was a tiny Pennsylvania Dutch dumpling called Rivels or Riwweles which is probably much the same as my grandmother’s Rivellies. We also grew up on Spatzle and homemade noodles, dumplings, sauerkraut, scrapple, and hasenpfeffer. Scrapple is traditionally a mush of pork scraps and trimmings combined with cornmeal and wheat flour, which is baked in a loaf pan and then kept refrigerated. You sliced some of it and fried it in a skillet for a breakfast side dish. (I could live without the hasenpfeffer but loved everything else).

Or grandma might make a huge chicken sandwich for you (if you were the only child who happened to be around) with leaves of lettuce fresh from her garden, and mayonnaise spread thick on homemade bread. We often had Palascinta for lunch, with jelly spread over it and then rolled up; we called the crepes “German pancakes” not knowing their true origin was Hungarian. If nothing else, we might have a snack of a slice of rye bread spread with sour cream.

My grandmother taught her cooking skills to her daughter and daughters-in-law. Many years would pass before I realized that my two aunts, Aunt Annie and Aunt Dolly, knew how to make many of Grandma’s desserts and savory dishes. My mother learned how to make bread; my mother made two huge loaves of bread twice a week most of my adolescent years. Aside from the recipes my aunts remembered, most of grandma’s recipes—all learned from watching, none written down—are now lost. A few were written down but most are gone, along with my mother and aunts and grandmother.

For one thing, my grandmother never wrote much in English except for her name; some times she would instruct me to write something down for her. But German was her native language and she and my grandfather had many Immigrant friends in Cincinnati who spoke their language. My grandfather was a tailor of men’s suits and spoke seven languages fluently. The shopkeepers with whom grandma did business all spoke German, too.

My grandparents belonged to a lodge that was downtown near Findlay Market; it was a place where the men played cards and smoked pipes in one room while the women cooked or talked in another room. (Only recently I discovered there were many such lodges).  Sometimes there was a wedding in a nearby Catholic church and the reception might be held at this lodge; I remember the dancing and the music. We went to and from the lodge on the streetcars—later buses took over. When we transferred buses at Colerain and Hopple Street, my grandfather would hurry into Camp Washington Chili Parlor to get Coney Islands for us to eat when we got home. (I remember there being a coupon in the Sunday Paper – five or six Coney islands for 25 cents).

Findlay Market was an open market with stalls of fruit-and-vegetables—around the perimeter of the open stalls there were grocery stores—I particularly remember a meat market where grandma sometimes bought a chicken.  Grandma was ahead of her time carrying tote bags made out of oil cloth and often taking a grandchild along to help carry the bags. In recent years I visited Findlay Market with one of my nephews; it is over a hundred years old and has been vastly renovated—almost all the stores and shops are now indoors and the meat market always had us drooling over the many kinds of sausages.

I grew up in Cincinnati, learning my way around the city at a very tender age—by the time I was ten years old I was making trips downtown by myself—first to make payments on a coat my mother had in layaway at Lerner’s for which she paid $1.00 a week and I’d have two nickels for bus fare each way. Later, I took my two younger brothers with me downtown to do our Christmas shopping. There were no malls at this time—all the shops and stores were located downtown, near Fountain Square and ladies would go downtown to shop wearing dresses and high heels. Can you imagine?

At an early age—maybe ten or eleven—I began to discover the used book stores (as well as small out-of-the-way dusty antique stores that often had a tray of books outside the door; The kind of books I bought then, for 25 cents each, were often light romance, I think—cookbooks were far from my radar!

We shopped primarily at the five and ten cent stores – there were three or four of these—one was a Newberry’s and another was a Kresge’s, but the chief attraction was    the Woolworth store that had a lunch counter where we—my two younger brothers and I—could buy a grilled cheese and coke to share—and sometimes have enough for a bag of caramel corn which I have been addicted to all my life. We somehow managed to buy Christmas presents for our parents, grandparents and siblings—which amazes to me this very day. It must have been like the loaves and fishes—because somehow, doling out pennies for purchases, we always managed to get something for everybody.  I was equally addicted to “downtown” – to me, downtown has been and always will be “downtown Cincinnati” During the holidays my brothers and I visited all the major department stores to stand in line to see Santa Claus but primarily to get a free candy cane. The store window displays alone were worth a trip downtown.

One of my favorite stores – not a 5&10 cent store – was Shillito’s—Cincinnati’s first department store which opened in 1832. One of the exits, close to my bus stop,was in the book section, where Nancy Drew books were on display.  One year my brother Jim gave me five new Nancy Drew books for Christmas. I was hooked on Nancy Drew. I think the books were about a dollar each—and just GETTING a dollar and hanging onto it long enough to go downtown to buy the next book was a task unto itself. Eventually I discovered that the Nancy Drew books at used book stores were generally a lot cheaper—and I fell in love with the old illustrations in these books.

Another beloved place when I was a child – not only to me but to my siblings as well – was the Windmill Restaurant. It was a cafeteria style restaurant, unfamiliar to all of us—where you could pick and choose whatever you wanted to eat. It was a special treat to do downtown to the Windmill Restaurant with Grandma and be able to eat anything you wanted.  (a foreign concept to children of the 1940s, I assure you.)

Restaurant food with my parents sometimes had strings attached. I remember once being in a restaurant with my parents; we all ordered hamburgers – but I stipulated no mustard on mine. The hamburger arrived with – guess what? Mustard. I refused to eat it and my parents refused to send it back. That hamburger traveled home with us in the glove compartment and I don’t remember eating anything else on the way home.(many, many years later I began eating mustard—it’s almost a “must” on a corned beef sandwich but I remember, nevertheless, a battle of wits between me and my parents.

The Windmill Restaurant and Grandma are irrevocably tied together. I never went there without her.

There were other downtown attractions; during the holidays, Lytle Park had a “live” nativity scene that was a “must” if you were downtown. Lytle Park, as I remember it, no longer exists*. When the Freeway, Interstate I-71, was built in the mid 1960s. significant changes were made to the area. A tunnel was built under the park; the original Lytle Park had to be dismantled/demolished. After I-71 construction, the park was reconstructed, and “One Lytle Place” (a luxury nigh-rise apartment building) was constructed.

Another favorite event during my childhood was the circus. The only circus I know anything about was one that came to town, to the downtown area. This was the Shrine  Circus and our Uncle George gave us free tickets to go. I went there with my two younger brothers. We didn’t have any money for caramel corn or soft drinks, but it was enough just being there.

We went to the Policemen’s Picnic once a year and it was not uncommon for families to pack up a supper and go to one of the parks located in Cincinnati’s many forest areas—there was Winton Woods and Mt. Airy Forest, just to name two.

Cincinnati has a fine zoo and sometimes you might go with Grandma to the zoo, just to walk around. There are many other fine places to visit in Cincinnati, such as the museums.  What I have described to you, however, are the places I was familiar with as a child

Cincinnati  has, for many decades, been a city of great activity and prosperity. By 1830 it was the 6^th largest city in the United States. In a book titled “CINCINNATI, A PICTORIAL HISTORY” by Marilyn Green and Michael Bennett, the authors tell us that “increasing numbers of steamboats were built here, and the huge pork-packing industry gave the city the name of “Porkupolis”, one result of this highly successful business being the common sight of herds of pigs being driven through the streets a long time ago. Many of today’s great businesses were founded, such as Procter & Gamble; showboats docked at public landings and theatres opened their doors to increasingly elegant crowds who were entertained by everything from Shakespeare to grand opera…”

It was during this period (1820-1865) that many illustrious visitors and residents arrived  at the Queen City. Harriet Beecher Stowe came with her amazing father, the head of Lane Seminary; Lafayette came and was nearly killed with hospitality; Charles Dickens praised Cincinnati warmly, and Horace Greeley compared it favorably with California. Jenny Lind produced the hysterical enthusiasm that marked her American tour and Stephen Foster worked and composed in the city. A runaway boy who would become famous as Mark Twain boarded a steamboat for New Orleans from the Cincinnati public landing. Thomas Edison was here, and it was he who received the telegraphed news of Lincoln’s assassination. I was bemused to think that Mark Twain boarding a steamboat at the public landing. I remember the public landing and boarding a steamboat to ride up the river to Coney Island (Cincinnati’s version of the famed amusement park).

But mostly, when I think about Cincinnati, I think about good food and recipes and cookbooks.  I think good cooking must be pretty much taken for granted in my hometown and I was nonplussed when I began removing Cincinnati and greater Cincinnati cookbooks from my shelves, to discover just how many cookbooks I have that are devoted to just this one city.

You may recall (I’ve mentioned it a time or two) that the very first community cookbook in my collection was purchased by my father from a co-worker at Formica, in 1961. Its full title is “50^th Anniversary Cookbook Women’s Guild Matthew’s United Church of Christ”  I think my father paid a dollar each for several copies – one for me, one for my sister Becky and one for my mother. It’s always been one of my favorite cookbooks—if nothing else it amuses me to think that daddy had NO IDEA what he was starting when he bought that book for me. Until then, I had never seen any community (or church or club) cookbooks; I had no idea they even existed. A few years later I began to make a serious effort to find other Cincinnati cookbooks. When I began making trips back home with my children in the summertime, my young brother and I began making trips to Acre of Books, in downtown Cincinnati. I rarely made it beyond the cookbook section.  One of the oldest  cookbooks in my collection is a ring-bound book, sans covers, titled “TESTED RECIPES – CALVARY CHURCH, CLIFTON, OHIO.” (Clifton is a suburb of Cincinnati) It’s missing a publishing date, also, and clippings fal out of it whenever I pick the book up—oh, but I love this old cookbook with or without the covers. The former owner inserted pages of her own handwritten recipes or recipes clipped from newspapers and pasted inside.

Perhaps preceding this is a book in my collection titled “KEY TO THE CUPBOARD”  compiled by the Daughters of Veterans (as in the Civil War, 1861-1865) Like so many other old cookbooks, this one is undated; judging by the ads, I would guess it to be published in the early teens—sometime before World War I There is a full page ad titled Mrs. Abraham Lincoln Tent No. 14, and below that DAUGHTERS OF VETERANS 1861-1865, followed underneath by MEETINGS HELD AT MEMORIAL HALL. At the bottom of the page is written “Our Object To Aid and Assist the needy Veterans; to care  for their Widows, and their Orphans, and to perpetuate the memory of the heroic dead, and at the bottom CINCINNATI, OHIO. Amongst the ads is one for Rookwood Pottery. I found a recipe inside for Amber Soup, which was an interesting surprise—only recently I found a reference to Amber Soup while working on What’s Cooking in the White House Kitchen. I also found some recipes for “peach mangoes” and “Sweet Cucumber Mangoes”.  You may recall that I have written about “mangoes” before—it was a Cincinnati term for green bell peppers for many years—the transition from a pickled fruit to being called “mangoes” seems to have stayed strictly in the greater Cincinnati region.  (See “Stuff Mangoes or a Rose by Any Other Name”)

I began collecting cookbooks in 1965; it wasn’t until the early 1970s that I was able to travel home to Cincinnati with my children, to spend from a few weeks to a few months of the summer with my parents, during which time I began to seriously search for Cincinnati cookbooks. One summer we had so much “stuff” to take home that I packed it all in boxes and we took the Greyhound Bus back to California – there was no weight restriction on our boxes, mostly filled with books; it gave a Redcap pause at the downtown Los Angeles Bus Depot when my husband met us there and we enlisted the Redcap to haul all the boxes to our station wagon.

“What you got in here?” he queried. “Feels like FORT KNOX!”
“Not quite, “ I replied, “Just BOOKS!”

Over the years (and many trips to Cincinnati) other old Cincinnati community cookbooks gradually found their way onto my bookshelves. There is DEACCONESS HOSPITAL COOKBOOK published sometime in the 1930s,

THE GARDEN CLUB OF CINCINNATI COOK BOOK published a revised edition in 1937 (I never found an earlier edition),

While in 1950 THE WIEDEMANN BOOK OF UNUSUAL RECIPES was compiled by famous chefs of the day,

THE CINCINNATI COOK BOOK RECIPES COLLECTED BY THE CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY OF THE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL was published in 1967 and features drawings of famous Cincinnati landmarks, penned by artist Caroline Williams,

In 1970 the Altrusa Club of Cincinnati published ALTRUSA’S CINCINNATI CELEBRITY COOKBOOKI featuring cartoons of “The Girls” for which cartoon artist Franklin Folger became known,

CINCINNATI CELEBRATES presented by the Junior League of Cincinnati was published 1974,

Also in 1974, Cheviot PTA compiled HAPPINESS IS…CHEVIOT PTA COOKBOOK (one of my favorites—my sister Becky did the illustrations and submitted many of her favorite recipes to this cookbook

ONE POTATO TWO TOMATO, A Cookbook, was published in 1979 by the Catholic Women of Cincinnati,

CINCINNATI RECIPE TREASURY/The Queen City’s Culinary Heritage, by Mary Anna DuSablon, published in 1983 is, without question, my favorite all-time Cincinnati cookbook—it was, and still is, my favorite reference book when it comes to a Cincinnati Recipe.

There is a hardcover book called TREASURED RECIPES FROM CAMARGO TO INDIAN HILL which was compiled in 1987 by the members of the Indian Hill Historical Society,

RIVERFEAST/Still Celebrating Cincinnati by the Junior League of Cincinnati was published in 1990,

While in 1998 the Junior League of Cincinnati returned with “I’ll COOK WHEN PIGS FLY AND THEY DO IN CINCINNATI, another one of my favorite cookbooks.

When asked what my favorite cookbook is, I have to confess, it’s whatever I am reading at the moment. But one of the most outstanding collections of recipes were compiled by Fern Storer, who—for decades—was a food editor for the Cincinnati Post. Whenever my mother was putting together a box of things to send to me, she’d ask if there was anything in particular that I wanted; “Yes,” I always replied, “send me some of Fern Storer’s columns—and maybe a loaf of Rubel’s Rye Bread!” Later on the family would send me packets of Skyline Chili powder mix.

I wish I could have met Fern Storer. Well, during one of my visits to Cincinnati, my nephew took me to the Ohio Book store downtown in Cincinnati (Acres of Books went out of business some years ago). I bought about $100 worth of books including a copy of RECIPES REMEMBERED by Fern Storer.  We packed the box of books up and my nephew mailed them to my home—to save me the trouble of packing them in a suitcase.  Well, the box never made it to California. A single book I had read on the flight TO Cincinnati and had a return address label inside surfaced and was sent to me by the Post Office in Bell, California. I agonized over losing that box for months afterwards.

A year or two later I was back in Cincinnati and returned to the  Ohio Book Store; I told my tale of woe to the owner of the book store who remarked “You know, we ship orders all the time—we can mail your books to you for the cost of postage. So, when I had found a couple of armloads of cookbooks that day, I gave them to the owner to send to me. They weighed my books to determine the cost of shipping at book rate. My books were waiting for me when I got back home.

I didn’t find another copy of RECIPES REMEMBERED—but one day began searching for it online – and not only did I find a copy – I found one that is autographed!

Thank you, Fern Storer, wherever you are.

I like junior league cookbooks from different states –they are almost always better than most cookbooks—but when it comes to finding a recipe that is “local” the two books I turn to first are Fern Storer’s RECIPES REMEMBERED and Mary Anna DuSablon’s Cincinnati Recipe Treasury. Granted, my home town has a great deal more to offer than cookbooks—but the ones listed are those in my own collection.

Special Thanks to Howard Brinkdoepke for clarifying the names and locations of some of my Cincinnati memories. Howard became a penpal when I wrote Dinner in the Diner including the Twin Trolley Restaurant that used to be in South Fairmount.

–Sandra Lee Smith

 

BY PRESIDENTIAL DECREE…LET THEM EAT SOUP

 

“Beautiful soup so rich and green,

Waiting in a hot tureen

Who for dainties would not stoop

Soup of the evening, beautiful soup!”

–the Mock Turtle  in Alice in Wonderland

Is there anything quite like a bowl of hot soup? It nourishes and sustains us on a cold and wintry day. Nothing restores us quite like a bowl of hot soup. On a hot summer day, it’s a marvelously light meal that cools us off, and what could be tastier, then, than a chilled bowl of gazpacho!

French peasant for many centuries recognized the value of having a soup pot simmering on the back of the stove every day. Any leftover bits of meat or vegetables were tossed into the soup kettle. Nothing was ever wasted. A bowl of nourishing soup was available, then, at any time.

Decades ago, housewives knew the value of feeding a nourishing beef bouillon (sometimes called beef tea) or chicken broth to an invalid. A pot or kettle of soup can be very simple—beef broth, for instance or consommé,  or it can be hearty, like a clam chowder or beef stew.  Today’s thrifty cook knows that he or she can toss bits and pieces of leftover meat or vegetables into a container and FREEZE them; when she is ready to make a pot of soup she can just toss the saved beef and vegetables into the soup pot. My sister Becky called it “CLEANING OUT THE FRIG SOUP” – when the plastic container was full, she started out with whatever she found in the frig and added the frozen container of meat & vegetables. I was non-plussed when she decided to add leftover spaghetti to the soup pot – but she cut the spaghetti into bite size pieces and it was wonderful. And I learned a new lesson about spaghetti.

If you think of soup as just something that comes out of a can, are you in for a surprise! Homemade soup is one of the easiest, most nourishing foods you can possibly serve to your family and it can be very, very inexpensive, made from leftovers in your refrigerator–the remains of a pot roast or a ham bone can get you started. If I have leftover roast, carrots and potatoes and some beef gravy or au jus—it  can all go into the pot for stew.  If all you have is some roast beef, into the pot it can go, with fresh vegetables – carrots, onion, potatoes – or to make it easier on yourself – skip the fresh vegetables and add canned mix vegetables or  a package of frozen mixed vegetables. In the office where I worked for many years, some of my coworkers lost a lot of excess weight and maintained their weight loss by mixing up batches of a simple “diet soup” over the weekend and then having it for lunches through the week. The recipe couldn’t be any simpler (it was mostly made up of all kinds of green vegetables) and the soup could be eaten anytime, in any amount.

When I was a little girl, vegetable soup was served at dinner first as a broth  sometimes with homemade noodles added to it, then as an entrée we had the potatoes, carrots and meat from the soup pot—while my father and brothers spread the cooked marrow from the soup bones onto crackers. (NOW marrow bones are roasted and served as a fancy dish on the Food Network).

It may surprise you to know that many American presidents were very partial to soups—enough so that history has left us a legacy of their soup preferences!

Our first president, George Washington, loved seafood and was especially partial to wife Martha’s crab soup. According to Poppy Cannon in her book “The PRESIDENTS COOKBOOK” it also became a favorite recipe of FDR’s as well as that of President Eisenhower and Mrs. Eisenhower. Many decades later, Martha Washington’s Crab Soup was served at the Senate Wives Red Cross luncheon.  First Lady Mrs. Ford liked it so much that the recipe was sent to the White House chefs to reproduce the crab soup to Mrs. Ford’s satisfaction, whereupon it became a Ford family favorite. (I would imagine that President Washington, with his ill-fitting dentures, found soups easier to eat and digest, too!)  George Washington also had a favorite vegetable soup.

To make Martha Washington’s Crab Bisque, you will need the following:

Enough crab to make ½ pound crabmeat

1 TBSP butter

1½ TBSP flour

3 hard-cooked eggs, mashed

Rind of 1 lemon, grated

Salt & pepper to taste

2 ½ cups milk

½ cup sherry

½ cup heavy cream

Dash of Worcestershire sauce

Boil enough crabs in salted water* to make ½ pound crab meat (or use canned crab or frozen). Combine the butter, flour, eggs, lemon rind, salt and pepper. Put the milk into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour it slowly into the egg mixture. Now combine the crab meat with the milk mixture and boil gently 5 minutes. Add the cream and take it off the stove before it comes to a full boil. Now add the sherry and a dash of Worcestershire sauce. Serves 4-5.

Sandy’s Cooknote* whenever I cook shrimp or crab—any kind of seafood – I store the liquid from the seafood in a jar in the refrigerator—for a future batch of clam chowder.

Martha Washington also favored a Mexican Black Bean soup; these recipes found their way into Martha’s manuscript cookbook.  Quite possibly her recipe was given to her by President Jefferson, as he, too, had a favorite Mexican Black Bean Soup. Martha did obtain recipes from other notables of her time. Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, many decades later, were also partial to the black bean soup.

To make President Jefferson’s Mexican Black Bean Soup you will need:

2 cups dried black beans

2 ½ quarts water

2 lbs short ribs of beef

Salt & pepper

1 cup wine

3 slices toast made into croutons

Wash a quart of black beans; add them to a pot with a gallon of cold water. Add 2 or 3 pounds of stewing veal or beef or soup bones and cook the mixture 2 or 3 hours or until the beans have become soft.   (letting the dry beans soak overnight is recommended). Pour off the liquid from the cooked beans and save; mash the beans through a sieve season with salt and pepper. Add them to the soup liquid and simmer 15 minutes. Serve the soup with small squares of bread that has been browned and toasted in melted butter. Makes about 2 quarts. (or use some croutons))

There is a more elegant black bean soup recipe in the Mount Vernon cookbook but the above recipe is simple and nourishing. We have all become familiar with black bean—they are now readily available in dry or canned. I had never eaten black beans until I became friends with a woman from Puerto Rico, when we lived in Florida. It was traditional in her family to have a meal of ham and black beans for good luck on New Year’s Day. That was my introduction to black beans which were also called turtle beans but only in connection with dried, not canned, black beans.

President Jefferson signed the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, and fittingly one of his favorite soup recipes was Gumbo. Another favorite soup of President Jefferson was potato soup, as prepared by his cook at Monticello.

Yet another well-liked soup recipe of President Jefferson was pea soup—made, of course, with peas from his own garden. Every Monday at Monticello, tomato soup was served. Thomas Jefferson’s daughter, Martha, who shared his interest in recipes (called “receipts” back then) gave the recipe to Martha Washington. Yet another favorite recipe written by President Jefferson’s daughter, Martha Jefferson Randolph, was a recipe for okra soup. Per Poppy Cannon, okra soup was more or less a simple forerunner of Brunswick Stew which was later to become a favorite in Brunswick, Virginia, as well as other places in the south. This recipe is listed in Martha Jefferson Randolph’s name at Monticello;

Okra

Water lima beans

Fresh meat or chicken

Tomatoes

Butter

flour

Add 1 quart chopped okra, young and crisp, to 2 cups of cold water. Bring to a boil and cook 1 hour. Add 1 cup of lima beans (fresh or dried), a pound of fresh meat or chicken cut in serving size pieces. Simmer gently for 1 hour.  Add 5 tomatoes, cut into small pieces. Add more water if needed. Let simmer slowly. When almost done, add 2 tbsp butter rolled in 1 tablespoon flour. The soup should not be too thick. (Fresh corn, cut from the cob, may be added at the same time as the lima beans, if desired). And a thicker version may be made by simmering longer, until the meat and vegetables are a porridge-like mass. Makes about 2 quarts. – From The Presidents’ Cookbook by Poppy Cannon

John Adams, like all early pioneering Americans, learned to use corn in many different ways. It was a legacy give to us by the American Indians. A favorite soup of President Adams was corn soup. Another favorite dish was succotash soup. Perhaps the Adams’ who spent some years living in Philadelphia, developed a taste for the Pennsylvania-Dutch corn soup. The following corn and tomato soup with dumplings is credited with Ohio origins but it might have originated in Pennsylvania.

To make Corn and tomato Soup with Dumplings you will need

A meaty soup bone

½ onion, sliced,

Salt & pepper to taste

1 dozen ears of corn

1 dozen tomatoes

Dumplings

Cover bone with cold water; add seasonings and onion. Shave off the grains of corn and also scrap out the pulp and add to the soup pot. Peel, then cut up the tomatoes and let it come to a boil. Then reduce  the heat and cook slowly 3 hours.

To make dumplings:

1 egg

1 cup sour milk*

½ tsp salt

Flour

½ tsp baking soda

Beat egg slightly; stir soda into milk and add. Mix in enough salted flour to make a very stiff batter.  Drop into boiling soup from a tablespoon. Cover and cook 20 minutes.  Serve at once.

*I take it for granted that everybody knows these things but in case you don’t know how to make sour milk just add a tablespoon of white vinegar to regular milk. Wait a little bit…and it will become “sour milk”.

**

Many presidents have enjoyed turtle or terrapin. According to history, one of the first presidents to receive a gift of turtle was President John Adams. A friend bestowed a 114 pound turtle upon the president.

In his diary, his son – John Quincy Adams – mentions that at a July 4^th dinner served at the White House during the Tyler’s Administration, turtle soup was served, made from a turtle weighing “three hundred pounds” – a present from Key West. It is said that John Quincy Adams never failed to mention with whom he dined, or how often, but seldom made mention of the food itself—so that when he mentioned in his diary having eaten turtle soup at a dinner it must have been an impressive occasion.

I can’t resist mentioning that many species of turtles are on the brink of extinction if not already extinct. Like buffalo, early Americans could not imagine that reckless killing of animals would eventually make many of them extinct. In 2003, National Geographic said that leatherneck turtles were on the brink of extinction.

More about turtles later!

Dolley Madison, considered for many decades to be the quintessential Washington hostess served as hostess for Thomas Jefferson, who was widowed.

Dolley Madison was First Lady in her own right when James Madison was president. Dolly, who left neatly handwritten notes containing her favorite recipes and home remedies, treated visitors—even drop-ins—with a bouillon laced with sherry at her afternoon  receptions. “When the weather was  cold and  dreary,” wrote one observer, “it was a comforting practice”. Perhaps it was such small but thoughtful gestures as this that gave                                                                                                 such luster to Dolley Madison’s reputation for hospitality.

To make Dolley Madison’s Hospitable Bouillon you will need:

4 lbs beef

1 veal knuckle

3 small carrots

2 turnits

1 good hot pepper

3 small white onions

1 bunch parsley

8 quarts water

Sherry

Put 4 pounds of juicy beef, a knuckle of veal and a bouquet garni of herbs tied in cheesecloth into a large kettle along with 6 quarts of water. Add remaining ingredients, except sherry, and simmer together for 6 hours. When finished strain the bouillon through a fine sieve. Allow the soup to stand overnight to congeal. Skim off all the grease. Put the soup back into the kettle to heat. Just before serving, add sherry to taste (made with stock instead of water it is even better although Dolley’s recipe says simply water.

It’s just a guess on my part, but I imagine that Dolley had a kettle of beef bouillon cooking every day in order to serve all the guests in cold weather. She would have to have one kettle of soup cooking while another was being reheated to serve to guests.

Chef Rysavy in A TREASURY OF WHITE HOUSE COOKING also mentions Dolley liked to let her bouillon stand overnight before skimming off the fat. She would store the bouillon in a cool place and heat a portion of it as needed. Just before the bouillon was server, a little sherry was added.

As someone who makes large batches of different soups as well as my own beef and chicken stocks, I have been chilling these soups in gallon jars for years. I have a second refrigerator in the garage in which to keep these things (as well as soft drinks and juices for the grandchildren) – so that I am able to remove the fats from any stock before continuing on with a soup recipe. I’ve been doing this so long that I no longer remember where I learned it – quite possibly from reading my White House cookbooks!

President Fillmore may not be well remembered by American historians, or school children, but he did install the first real bathtub with centrally heated running water and his wife installed the first library in the White House. In  addition, President  Fillmore installed the first  real STOVE in the White House kitchen. Prior to that time, all the Fillmore cooking was done over open fireplaces. There is a story that the Fillmore cook was horrified at the idea of cooking on such a “thing” [as a stove] and the President had to go visit the patent office to get detailed directions for operating it. But, like all new contraptions, once the White House staff got used to it, they couldn’t imagine how they had gotten along without it.

President Fillmore was a thrifty man—it seems only natural that one of HIS favorite soup recipes was an old fashioned vegetable beef soup, which was more like a stew. Again, according to Ms. Cannon’s book THE PRESIDENTIAL COOKBOOK, WHEN President Fillmore’s soup was ready to serve, the solids were removed from the soup kettle to a platter.  The soup was served, consumed, then the soup bowls filled with the meat and vegetables from the platter. (I wonder if my mother could have known that an American President enjoyed vegetable soup served just like hers—I was curious about Fillmore’s birthplace and wondered if it was Ohio, where my parents were born—but no, President Fillmore was born in New York).

A favorite soup of Andrew Jackson’s was “Old Hickory Nut Soup”, also a favorite with natives of Jackson’s North Carolina home state. The recipe begins with “Crack one gallon hickory nuts…” (I found directions for making hickory nut soup but it is far too convoluted to type, much less re-create). However, in Poppy Cannon’s THE PRESIDENT’S COOKBOOK, she provides a simpler recipe for making Hickory Nut Soup.  You need

Hickory nuts

Sugar

Hot water

Crack a gallon of hickory nuts;  remove the hulls and crush together [the   nuts]  into a mass. Pour a quart of hot water over the nuts ; allow to stand for 10  minutes. Strain, add 4 tablespoons of sugar and serve hot.

Julia Tyler seems to have been partial to a “torup” stew, torups being a variation of huge turtles that were native to the Eastern Shore of Long Island, where Julie grew up. (Julia was President Tyler’s second wife and many years younger than he. The marriage created something of a stir in Washington). The torup stew was said to taste a lot like chicken.

Oyster stew and Terrapin Stew were amongst the many dishes listed on President Lincoln’s second inaugural ball menu. This was a bit of a far cry from President Lincoln’s first inaugural ball menu at which mock turtle soup was served. While most food historians claim that the President was not interested in food or eating, it seems that President Lincoln actually  planned the menu for his second inaugural luncheon and it seems that President Lincoln loved fruit pies.  Some of the ladies in Springfield shipped fruit pies to him—no small feat in the mid 1800s.  (I sometimes wonder if the President just didn’t like the way most foods were prepared for him.  I grew up thinking I hated rice and cabbage, I hated rabbit—what I really didn’t like was the way these foods were prepared. My mother’s rice was a lump of sticky glue and cabbage was cooked from 9 am until 6 pm until it bore no resemblance to a vegetable…and rabbit? The only rabbit I was ever acquainted with as a child was a wild rabbit killed by my father during hunting season and cleaned in the kitchen sink in front of impressionable eyes. It was then soaked in a vinegar and spice concoction for 3 days to create “hasenpfeffer” – a dish that was the bane of my childhood).

The Benjamin Harrisons were a soup-loving family with corn soup and fish chowder amongst their favorites.

Another favorite served by Mrs. Harrison was “Amber Soup” which was a hot, clear soup that she served at White House teas and receptions. It was  made from both chicken and ham, along with assorted vegetables. Poppy Cannon writes that we may serve it under different occasions today but it is still a splendid soup.

To make Amber soup you will need

Chicken

Water

Ham

Soup Bone

Bouquet Garni

Celery

Carrot

Onion

Parsnip

Parsley

Cloves

Egg Whites

Ground salt & pepper

Put cleaned and washed stewing chicken in 4 quarts of water, along with a small slice of ham and a soup bone. Boil together over a low fire for about 3½ hours. Then add a bouquet garni,* 2 stalks celery, 1 carrot, 1 onion, 1 small parsnip, 2 or 3 sprigs of parsley, and 3 cloves.  Cook another half hour, then strain the liquid and chill in a glass jar in the refrigerator overnight. Shortly before serving time, remove the wedge of grease that has formed at the top of the jar and pour the jellied broth in a saucepan (omit the sediment on the bottom). Beat 2 egg whites and add to the jellied mixture. Boil quickly for one minute and then pour the soup through a jelly bag. (or a cheesecloth sieve if you don’t have a jelly bag) add one teaspoon caramel made by mixing brown sugar with a little water over a low fire until browned but not burned. Add salt & pepper to taste.  Makes 2 quarts.

(Sandy’s cooknote: if I were making this soup I would add a jalapeno pepper or another mild green pepper to the original mixture of vegetables –but only briefly; I would remove the jalapeno   after 1 or 20 minutes, just to get a bit of heat in the amber soup).

TO MAKE A BOUQUET GARNI (which is a French term for a bundle of herbs): There are numerous versions of bouquet garni, which is an assortment of fresh herbs. A simple traditional bouquet garni is 3 sprigs (long stems) parsley 2 sprigs thyme, and 1 bay leaf. Put it all together in a small bag – 2 or 3 thicknesses of cheesecloth, then tie it all together to go into the soup pot but can easily be removed.

Moving forward to the administration of Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt—one of the first things the president did  after looking around his new home was to pitch potted palms out of the reception rooms. Notes Poppy Cannon in The Presidents’ Cookbook, that small action was symbolic of Teddy Roosevelt’s desire to change and simplify what had become what had become a most unwieldy structure, both socially and decoratively. The Roosevelts were an attractive, ebullient family. In addition to the President and his wife Edith, there were six children, ranging from the baby Quentin to seventeen year old Alice. Theodore Jr was away at school most of the time but Archie, Kermit and Ethel were natural, noisy youngsters. These      youngsters, roller skating in the upstairs corridors and playing leapfrog over the satin upholstery, had to be daunting for White House employees. There were many ways in which the Roosevelts brought fresh air into the White House.

One guest at the White  House table recalled a delicious luncheon of bouillon, salt fish, chicken in rice and fresh rolls (Dolley Madison’s recipe for bouillon, perhaps?)

The president’s daughter Alice dominated the newspapers  during the years of the Roosevelt administration,  probably more so than any other single member of the family except for the president himself. She was dubbed “Princess Alice” by the press. She made her debut not long after the Roosevelts moved into the White  House, and four years later, her wedding was considered to be the biggest White House social news since Nellie Grant’s wedding, decades before.

As for soups, there was a corn chowder with “bear’s paw” popcorn that the president tasted at an old country inn in Vermont and obviously obtained the recipe, how else would we know what it was? To make the Windham County Hotel’s recipe for corn chowder with Bear’s Paw Popcorn:

You will need

Salt pork

Onion

Potatoes

Water

Soda crackers

Milk

Corn (fresh, frozen or canned)

Salt & paprika

Popcorn

Cube 3 sliced of salt pork and sauté them in a skillet until crisp but not too brown. Add  one large sliced onion and sauté until golden. Add 3 sliced potatoes  and 2 cups water and continue cooking until potatoes become tender. Place 8 soda crackers in a large bowl. Pour 1 cup milk over them to soak. When the crackers have absorbed the milk, add to the skillet. Also add 2 ½  cups fresh corn or thawed frozen corn or whole kernel canned corn   along with 1 tsp salt and 1½ tsp paprika. Simmer the mixture over the same low heat for at least 10 minutes. Serve hot, garnished with popped corn. Serves   4

The Roosevelt family, addicted as its various members were to foreign travel, had a special interest in India and the Far East. Though normally partial to relatively simple foods, they were fond of certain dishes from the East, such as this delicious curried soup;

To make Chilled Senegalese Soup you will need:

Chicken stock

Curry powder

Chicken (cooked)

Egg yolks

Cream

Salt & pepper

Put 3 ½ cups chicken stock into a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Then add half teaspoon curry powder and 1 ½ cups finely chopped cooked chicken and  simmer gently. (More curry powder can be added if you like a stronger flavor) Blend 4 slightly beaten egg yolks with a tablespoon of the hot chicken stock and slowly add 2 cups warm cream to the yolks. Slowly add  into the simmering chicken and stock. Keep stirring while the soup thickens over a very low heat. Do not let the soup come to a boil. Add ½ tsp each salt and pepper to taste. Remove the soup from the fire, cool, and then put it into the refrigerator until chilled. Serve cold. Serves 6.

Not too many years went by following the administration of Teddy Roosevelt before another member of the Roosevelt family descended upon Washington and the White House. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected to the presidency in 1932 and has the distinction of being elected to 4 terms. (later, a law was passed prohibiting anyone from serving more than 2 terms as president—but at the time, FDR, his wife, and children brought a ray of hope to America at a time when the country had been for some time in the throes of the great depression. FDR was Teddy Roosevelt’s cousin.  The Roosevelts enjoyed many plain dishes, such as ceamed chipped beef, bread pudding and fried cornmeal when they were alone (which wasn’t often). Mrs. Roosevelt did not cook, aside from making scrambled eggs in a chafing dish on Sunday nights—she was a busy person in her own right and traveled throughout the country, returning to report to the president what she had seen and heard. She was his eyes and ears. However, Mrs. Roosevelt – although not interested in redecorating the White House, did redesign the kitchens, equipping them with electric stoves and dishwashers to lighten the work of the staff. Her attitude towards servants was deeply considerate. Mrs. Roosevelt disliked making too much work for the cooks with highly elaborate menus. Another reason for this, of course, was that the Roosevelt regime spanned some of the hardest years the country has known—the depression, war, and rationing. She undertook to have served at the White House the series of low priced menus prepared by the Department of Agriculture during the depression.

The Roosevelt family loved soups (a good thing—what is more economical than soup?) All during their White House years, big steel soup kettles were steaming away in the kitchen and soup was served twice a day. The soups were of many varieties, good planning at a time when food was scarce. A presidential favorite was Pepper Pot, a White House tradition since the days of George Washington.  To make Philadelphia Pepper Pot you will need:

Tripe

Water

Veal joint

Bay leaves

Onions

Potatoes

Parsley

Mixed herbs (Bouquet Garni)

Red pepper

Salt

Cayenne pepper

Flour

Beef suet

This recipe takes 2 days to prepare. Scrap 4 pounds of tripe and wash in 3 waters. Put into cold water to cover and boil gently for 7 or 8 hours. Cool in its own liquid, then cut into ½” squares. The next day, simmer a veal joint with its meat on it, for 3 hours in 3 quarts of cold water. Skim off the scum as it cooks. When it is cooked, cool and then separate the meat from the bones and simmer another hour.  Strain the soup and add 2 bay leaves and 2 onions, chopped coarsely, and simmer another hour. Strain the soup and add 4 diced potatoes, 2 teaspoons minced parsley, a bunch of mixed herbs (a bouquet garni) and 1 red pepper cut into dice. Also add the meats, 2 tsp salt, ½ tsp cayenne and dumplings which you have made out of   2 cups flour, ½ lb beef suet and salt. Make these dumplings small , about ½” in diameter. Drop them into the simmering soup, cover tightly and cook about 5 minutes longer.  Serve at once. Serves 6.

(I don’t know anyone who would go to all the work of making Philadelphia Pepper Pot nowadays.

President Roosevelt was extremely partial to fish sops. His mother supplied the Roosevelt cook with recipes for her son’s favorites. One was this excellent fish chowder.

To make Sara Delano Roosevelt’s Fish Chowder you will need:

Salt pork

Onions

Flour

Milk

Salt & pepper

Whitefish

Cut 3 slices of salt pork into cubes and brown in frying pan. Skim off excess fat and add 4 sliced onions. Fry until onions are clear. Skim out the  pork and onions and set aside. Make 1 cup of white sauce using the fat in the  pan and enough flour to make a  thin paste. When white sauce is smooth, add 1 quart milk. Return pork and onions to pot  along with a pound or more of raw white fish, boned, ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper. Simmer 15 minutes or until fish has turned white and flakes easily. This serves 4 hearty or 6 as a first course.

For some reason, Poppy Cannon reports, Mongole soup was an inaugural day favorite during the Roosevelt Administration. A number of these occasions were rainy as well as cold, and the hoards who showed up for lunch found this to be a satisfying and warming addition to the standard cold cuts, salads and rolls. It also made a hearty midnight snack for the Roosevelt guests who were often a little peckish (hungry) in the late hours.

To make Mongole Soup you will need:

Yellow split peas

Tomato juice

Onion

Salt & pepper

Soak overnight ½ cup yellow split peas. In the morning, drain the peas and    set over low heat with 2 cans tomato juice. Simmer several hours or until peas disintegrate. Season with 1 tsp grated onion and salt and pepper to taste.

Another midnight favorite was oxtail soup while green gumbo was a luncheon favorite for  FDR—but what I want to share with you is FDR’s GREEN TURTLE SOUP  recipe.

Like many American presidents, FDR loved turtle and terrapin soup. Soon after his inauguration, some terrapin was sent to the White House. Mrs. Henrietta Nesbitt, the  housekeeper the Roosevelts had brought with them from Hyde Park, was entirely unaccustomed to turtle life “and the huge brute” as she told it “would crawl around in the cellar”. When Mrs. Nesbitt spoiled the first terrapin, FDR was furious. The next time a terrapin arrived, he arranged to have someone from the Metropolitan Club to prepare it.

Despite the fact that terrapin appeared not infrequently at the White House, Mrs. Roosevelt never liked it.  This turtle soup recipe always created a great fuss in the kitchen of the White House when special cooks came in to prepare it. Nevertheless it was trotted out for a number of appreciative visitors, among them Will Rogers. (When you read the directions for obtaining turtle meat, you may never want to make it yourself,

To make FDR’s Green Turtle Soup  you will need

Turtles

Pickling spices

Celery

Onions

Carrots

Green peppers

Mace

Cream (light)

Butter

Flour

Salt & pepper

Sherry

Plunge 2 turtles into boiling water to kill. (if you are using snapping turtles, scrub and then scald them).  (ew, ew) Boil turtles whole, with ½ pound of pickling spices tied into a bag, 2 stick celery, 2 onions, 3 carrots, 2 green peppers and a blade of mace (or powdered mace) for 40 minutes until skin turns white on legs and head and it separates and can be slipped off. Another ew, ew. Cool and remove turtles. Separate the meat from the bones and can be slipped off.  Cool and remove turtles. Strain the broth.    Mix 2 quarts  light cream with ½ cup butter and ½ cup flour to make a white sauce. Add the bits of meat and 2 quarts of liquid reduced by boiling for an hour. Season with salt and pepper and add 1 cup sherry. Serves 16.

Sandy’s cooknote: I know there is no chance at all that I would ever kill and cook a turtle—and reading the directions for making turtle soup only confirms my aversion for cooking them. It’s amazing that so many species of turtles are on the brink of being extinct!   However, I have had mock turtle soup many times growing up – made with ground beef (although the original recipes for mock turtle soup called for cooking one calf’s head. Ew, ew.  I think I have a family recipe for mock turtle soup that is made with ground beef.

The Truman family followed FDR and were adamant about guarding their privacy. This was a whole new ballgame in the White House. The Trumans treasured their privacy  and resisted attempts to change it. Surely no family before or since zealously  protected their privacy, which extended to family recipes, to the extent of the Trumans. I did find a recipe of Mrs. Truman’s for Ozark Pudding in a Key West cookbook (their summer White House was located there) there and Poppy Cannon managed to include some recipes that may or may not have been authentic recipes of Mrs. Truman).

That being said, when the Trumans took over as the First Family Mrs. Truman very quickly made herself loved by the entire White House Staff. She knew what she wanted; she knew how things should be done, and she knew how to give orders in a pleasant way. President Truman referred to her as “The Boss”. She hid, whenever possible, from the press. The Truman ways were not the Roosevelt ways. Mrs. Truman took the household bookkeeping in hand and ran it herself. She ruled out breakfast  for the daily sleep-out employees*, to cut the huge food bills. Every day she sat at her desk and tried to run the White House like a business. (*I am unable to find a definition for “daily sleep-out employees” This appears to be an expression used in the 1940s).

Mrs. Truman’s attention to detail was typical towards food. She gained the reputation of serving the best of home cooked food even for guests who came to the White House teas. But no one was ever able to penetrate the Trumans’ insistence on protecting their privacy and that included Mrs. Truman’s collection of recipes.

Despite Mrs. Truman’s intense dislike of having to be in the spotlight, she went about the duties of being First Lady with a dignity which soon commanded the public’s respect.  If Mrs. Truman had a favorite soup recipe, it remained private.  Not even the First Ladies Cook Book published by Parents Magazine Press offers a soup recipe. The Ozark Pudding recipe is included, however.  After serving as President 3 years following the death of FDR (Truman was vice president when FDR died), Truman was elected to another 4 years which was a huge surprise victory as everyone expected Dewey to be elected—Truman served those four years and then (certainly to Mrs. Truman’s relief) they went back home to Missouri.

General Eisenhower was elected President and moved into the White House with wife, Mamie, in 1953. The Eisenhower Administration was notable for entertaining more royalty and heads of state than any other president and soups were a favorite dish of the Eisenhowers—the president himself sometimes cooked them if he was in the mood.  Other times he and the First Lady enjoyed the excellent soups that the White House chefs prepared for them.

Here is a Cold Curry Soup recipe that was served to Nikita Khrushchev and his wife enjoyed when they visited the White House—Mr. Khrushchev even brought along his own taster.  To make Cold Curry Soup you will need

Butter

Onion

Celery

Salt & pepper

Flour

Curry powder

Milk
Chicken Bouillon Cubes

Coconut

Melt 1/3 cup butter in a saucepan over low heat. In it sauté ¼ cup of minced onion and ¼ cup diced celery. Continue cooking over low heat until transparent. Blend in a teaspoon of salt, 1/8 tsp pepper, ¼ cup flour and 1½  to 4 tablespoons curry power (depending on the strength of the curry powder and the durability of your palate). Add 1 quart of milk stirring constantly. Cook until smooth and thickened. Add a chicken bouillon cube and stir until blended. Chill thoroughly. Serve in chilled bowls sprinkled with freshly grated coconut. Serves 6.

Chicken Noodle Soup was a favorite of the Eisenhowers. This is what you need to make the Eisenhower’s Chicken Noodle soup:

Stewing chicken

Water

Carrots

Celery

Onions

Salt & white pepper

Noodles

Parsley

Stew a chicken in cold water to cover, until tender, with 3 sliced carrots, 3 stalks of celery, sliced, 1 sliced onion, 1 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp white pepper. Remove chicken and strain the stock. Take the chicken liver and slice it fine and add it to the soup. Garnish with a sprinkle of freshly chopped parsley. Serves 6. This chicken recipe was also used for sandwiches or creamed chicken.

It’s just a guess but I am inclined to surmise that the Eisenhowers may have enjoyed soups more than any other president—if Poppy Cannon’s book THE PRESIDENTS’ COOK BOOK is any kind of indicator. Included in her book are five more recipes for different kinds of soups. Along with Oxtail Soup and Stone Crab Bisque, there are recipes for Cream of Almond Soup and a Cream of Celery Soup that was renamed by Mrs. Eisenhower (Cream of Celery-Clam Soup Rysavy) in honor of Chef Rysavy in his second month at the White House.  Chef Rysavy said the recipe was one he invented in France, which he thought would please the Eisenhowers.

To make Cream of Celery-Clam Soup Rysavy, you will need

Canned cream of celery soup

Bottled clam juice

Chicken Consomme

Chives

To one can undiluted celery soup, add twice as much clam juice and half a can of chicken consommé. Whir in blender until creamy. Heat thoroughly and serve in small cups. Sprinkle with chopped chives. Serves 6.

(forgive me if I am rolling on the floor laughing – the thought of a White House French chef making a soup for the President and  First lady using canned cream of celery—cracks me up).

But  before I finish writing about the Eisenhowers, I would like to include the President’s recipe for old fashioned beef stew. Poppy Cannon writes (and I believe I read this somewhere else a long time ago) – while President Eisenhower left the running of the house to his wife, there was one exception. He was fond of cooking an occasional dish of a homely variety. Beef soup was one of his specialties and he would leave the soup simmering on the stove in the kitchen for hours, causing much mouth-watering among the kitchen staff.  As the president and First Lady differed on the subject of onions (he loved them; she hated them) this was an opportunity for him to indulge in one of his favorite tastes. Quantity didn’t faze the president. His beef stew recipe serves sixty and although he had help from the staff preparing the vegetables, he was there in the kitchen, in his favorite apron, stirring, tasting and seasoning.  To make President Eisenhower’s Beef Stew for Sixty, you will need:

Beef cut for stew

Beef stock

Small Irish potatoes

Small carrots

White onions

Fresh tomatoes

Bouquet Garni

Flour

Salt & pepper

Stew 20 pounds of beef in  3 gallons beef stock until partially tender, about 2 ½ hours. Season and add 8 pounds peeled potatoes, 6 bunches scraped carrots, 5 pounds peeled onions, 15 quartered tomatoes, and a bouquet garni (bay leaf, parsley, garlic, thyme tied in a cheesecloth bag). When vegetables are tender, strain off 2 gallons of stock and thicken with enough flour to make a medium thick sauce. Remove cheesecloth bag; add thickened gravy to the meat and vegetables. Season to taste with salt and pepper and cook for another half hour.

I’ve included President Eisenhower’s recipe for beef stew to serve 60 just for fun although I can think of occasions when I would be inclined to make this recipe,  if I wasn’t making Cincinnati Chili for a large crowd.  Poppy Cannon does provide Eisenhower’s Beef Stew for SIX that you might want to try instead!

Poppy Cannon’s book goes on to include recipes of achievements of the Kennedy’s and the Johnsons—and I have numerous other books by or about White House chefs and presidential favorites—if my readers enjoyed reading this blog post, then I hope you will let me know and I will do a second part.  – Sandy

MEMORIES OF MY MOTHER’S KITCHEN

Memories of my mother’s kitchen revolve around the house on Sutter street. I am aware we had a kitchen in my grandparent’s home on Baltimore Street but I don’t have any memories of my mother cooking in it. I do have memories of my grandmother deep frying doughnuts over her kitchen stove, while I sat on my grandfather’s lap, a safe distance away, where we could watch and wait for the first hot, sugar-coated doughnut to be handed to us. I posted the following about a year ago and one of my Sandychatter subscribers wrote and told me about her earliest memories of her mother’s kitchen, which will follow my essay about my mother’s kitchen.

MY MOTHER’S KITCHEN

In my mother’s kitchen at 1618 Sutter Street in North Fairmount, we all sat around an old white wooden table which was covered with oilcloth (that I believe my two younger brothers at one time started a fire on or under, I’m not sure which) and it was at this table that my sister, and brothers and I did our homework while my mother ironed our clothing and a small Crosley radio on top of the refrigerator was tuned to the radio “shows” we listened to every day and night–Programs  like The Lone Ranger and Mr. & Mrs. North, The Shadow and Lights Out, and some of my favorites, Baby Snooks, My Friend Irma, and Our Miss Brooks;  These programs were on every day and every night, along with shows like Jack Benny, and Amos and Andy. There were dozens of these programs which we listened to while working on essays, or spelling and arithmetic lessons.

My mother’s kitchen was not, actually, a very large room, but along one wall, on the left side, there was a stove, and a tall narrow cabinet where my mother stored spices, and bottles of things like vinegar and Kitchen Bouquet.

Next to that was a large ceiling-to-floor built-in cupboard with Curious smoky stained glass in the upper cupboard doors, and then an open work space for canisters, and underneath that was a drawer where all sorts of things were tossed, from rubber bands to Wilson Evaporated milk labels (which could be redeemed for free things like dish towels or pot holders), as well as paper clips and crayons and bobby pins, pencils and erasers and old used envelopes, my mother’s one and only cookbook, Ida Bailey Allen’s Service Cookbook, that she bought at Woolworth’s, a pair of kitchen scissors and World War II ration books for each one of us that she kept long after the war was over. Whenever you needed something like string or a rubber band, you looked inside the kitchen drawer.

Next to this big built-in kitchen cupboard there was a narrow built in cupboard where canned goods and staples were stored and where my father had ingeniously cut a square hole into the floor so that my mother could drop  in soiled laundry collected from the second floor bedrooms and bathroom.

In the basement, my father built large cupboards, one of which contained the laundry that had been dropped in the hole from above. Once, my brother Biff got stuck in the hole when we were playing hide & seek and our parents were not at home.

There was a back door, outside of which there was a box where the milkman could leave bottles of milk, (although I don’t think we often had milk delivered—I remember a lot of powdered milk, Starlac, being mixed with water for us to drink.) Next to the back door, was my blackboard, nailed to the wall, on which my two younger brothers and I played a game called “war”—a not very creative game of drawing ships and airplanes with chalk and taking turns sinking one another’s battleships and fighter planes—a game I am surprised to remember as it indicates we were actually aware that a war was going on. (I have always maintained that I didn’t remember anything about the War years).

Next to the blackboard was a kitchen window that looked out onto the back yard.  In the corner along that wall was the refrigerator, on top of which was the little radio; Looking out on the side yard was  a window opposite the great kitchen cupboard–there may have been two windows on that wall but I can’t quite envision it. Along that wall my mother had a mangle ironer that she seldom ever used and it was a catchall for things piled on top of it.

On the 4^th wall, opposite the back door, was the kitchen sink where my sister Becky, brother Jim and I washed, dried and put away dishes and memorized the lyrics to popular songs from a songbook Becky bought each week for ten cents from Carl’s Drug Store.

This was my mother’s kitchen, where we ate supper every night at six o’ clock sharp and you did not eat If you were not at the table. I never missed supper and sat to my mother’s right at the kitchen table because I was the leftie in the family.

It was in my mother’s kitchen that I learned to cook, studying recipes in the Ida Bailey Allen cookbook and making sure we had all of the ingredients in the pantry.  It was in my mother’s kitchen that I began making muffins and brownies, peanut butter cookies and a cookie called Hermits and another called Rocks. If you could read directions, I discovered, you could cook.

Sometimes when my mother was at work, my two best friends, Patti & Carol, and I baked cakes or cookies while my two younger brothers sat on the back steps outside the kitchen door, waiting to eat our mistakes, such as burnt cookies. I had an enormous amount of freedom in the kitchen, with the only requirement  to clean up after myself.

In the summertime, when my mother was at work, I made menus out of the leftovers in the refrigerator, and played “restaurant” with my two younger brothers who could then “order lunch” from the menu.

We also did some crafts sitting at the kitchen table; I remember coloring uncooked macaroni with food coloring to make a necklace.

It was also in my mother’s kitchen that I began to write stories on an old Under wood typewriter  that my father bought for my older brother and me to use; it was too heavy to carry upstairs, and so I typed, using two-fingers, while sitting at the kitchen table.

These are some of the things I remember about my mother’s kitchen.  It was, I think, the hub of the house. –Sandra Lee Smith

My new friend Jean, who lives near Boston, wrote the following:

“My Mother’s Kitchen

We moved when I was five years old, so I don’t have much to say about the kitchen of my youngest years.  Here’s what I remember.  I believe there was a little entry on one wall, which led out to the driveway.  As you entered, to the left, there was a passage into the dining room.  The kitchen was not, if I recall correctly, big enough for a table.  All I can remember is that the sink and some cabinets were on the wall that stretched in front of you to the right, as you entered.  The sink overlooked the back yard.  The floor was white linoleum with a red leafy vine snaking its way through the room.  I still remember lying on my back on that floor, drinking a bottle.

I still drool, mentally anyway, over the kitchen in the house that we then moved to.  It was an antique house and the kitchen was shaped like an ell with a chubby base.  Coming from the outside via a covered porch, one would enter the door and turn right to enter the kitchen.  On the facing wall was a large fireplace with brick ovens.  (I STILL want those in a kitchen!)  To the right of the fireplace on the same wall, was a microscopic but handy half bathroom.  Rounding the corner, on the wall to the right, there was a window, then the freezer.  Then a bit of counter space and the sink, which overlooked the circular driveway, which featured an apple tree growing within easy view.  There was then a bit of counter space rounding the corner to the aforementioned entry.  Skipping past that, there was the stove.  That was A GOOD STOVE!  This was in the days when stoves regularly had two ovens, and this one did.  This stove with its ovens played a role in my most-memorable punishment….  Now, moving past the stove, you are in the upper part of the ell.  Fairly narrow, with cupboards and counter space on both sides.  This led to one of the doors into the dining room.  Back down the ell, I am not sure what was at the end, perhaps the refrigerator.  After that was a doorway that led to a hall and also to another entrance to the dining area.

In the center of the bottom part of the ell, there was a round maple table with four maple chairs.  At least for some of this time, there was a lazy susan in the center.  My sister and I did not do homework there.  We did it in our respective rooms, because we were not to be seen or heard.  We did, of course, eat there, sometimes with the fire lit.  On rare occasions, we roasted marshmallows in the fireplace. My sister and I did the dishes.  When I was young, she washed and I dried.  We would joke around.  Not too loudly, or dad would be furious. Ah yes, another memory of that kitchen.  If we didn’t eat something, it just kept appearing until it disappeared.  Cold lumpy Cream of Wheat?  Yuck!  I forget who started it, but we eventually would shove some things under the freezer, or, if we could get away with it, we would dash out and shove the unwanted food into the stone wall….Better memories, this is where I started cooking….”

Thanks, Jean! You and your sister were a little more ingenious than I was. I do remember feeding some vile canned tamales to the dog because I hated them so much; then I had a fit of remorse and kept giving the dog fresh pans of water, afraid the tamales would be too hot for him too. Does anyone want to weigh in on their mother’s kitchens?

–Sandy@sandychatter

 

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE COOKBOOK?

Some years ago, I was surfing the Internet looking for information about a cookbook author from the 1940s, when I happened to come across an article published some years ago by a newsletter called Simple Cooking.  The title of the article was “THE COOKBOOK CLOSEST TO MY HEART” and the editor of Simple Cooking posed this question to its subscribers: what cookbook would you rescue from a fire, if you could rescue only one? Out of all your favorite cookbooks, which one is closest to your heart?  The responses were varied and interesting, and included replies from a number of cookbook authors (Jean Anderson, Irena Chalmers, Julia Child, Laurie Colwin, Marion Cunningham, Karen Hess, and others) as well as comments from cookbook dealers Marian Gore and Jan Longone.  What surprised me most, though, was the number of cookbooks that I had never heard of!

The topic itself piqued my curiosity.  Back in the 1990s, a food writer for the Los Angeles Times called me on the phone one day and asked if we could do a telephone interview. I said sure, and she proceeded to ask me a few questions about my collection. One of those questions was “What is your favorite cookbook? If you had to choose just one or two, which would it be?”

I was caught off-guard by the question (and whatever my response was, it didn’t appear in the newspaper article which appeared in the December 15, 1994, issue of the Los Angeles Times). Actually, the article was really about a cookbook dealer who, at that time, had a used cookbook store in Burbank. I’ve never been quite sure how I got into the act.  And, I couldn’t tell you what my response was in 1994—my “favorite” cookbook changes frequently. (I have a theory that the only people who could limit their selection to only one or two books are people who don’t actually collect cookbooks).  At that moment, one of my favorites was  Jean Anderson’s “AMERICAN CENTURY COOKBOOK” which was published in 1997, so it wasn’t even a consideration in 1994. Anderson’s “American Century cookbook” is such a wonderful potpourri of recipes covering a hundred years—and I’ve discovered that I am greatly partial to any cookbook that manages to combine recipes with history and food lore. This thought occurred to me some time ago while I was writing a review of Mary Gunderson’s “FOOD JOURNAL OF LEWIS & CLARK, RECIPES FOR AN EXPEDITION”. The history fascinates me as much as the recipes do.

I might have said, in 1994, my choice was “AMERICA COOKS” by the Browns, – Cora, Rose, and Bob, – who compiled a book of favorite recipes when there were only 48 States, so you won’t find Alaska or Hawaii included in the roster. “AMERICA COOKS” is still one of my favorites, though. Actually, all of the cookbooks written by the Browns are really worth having in your collection.

I am very partial to another cookbook that skillfully combines recipes with history, called “CINCINNATI RECIPE TREASURY” by Mary Anna DuSablon (originally published by the Donning Company in 1983, reprinted by the Ohio University Press in 1992 with a number of reprint editions following).   I found a soft-cover edition of this cookbook back in the 90s when I was in northern California with my brother, Jim—and bought copies for all of my sisters and brothers. For transplanted Cincinnatians, this really is a treasury of recipes for dishes not found anywhere else in the United States (such as Cincinnati chili!)  I got a big kick out of the fact that my brother (a great cook, certainly, but not a cookbook collector) read the entire cookbook as we flew from Oakland to Portland.

On a similar note, I was delighted and charmed to discover Jeanne Voltz’s “THE CALIFORNIA COOKBOOK” some time ago – and this cookbook was published thirty-something years ago!  However, it’s a bonanza of California recipes and I have to admit, after living fifty years of living in California, I am more Californian, now, than Buckeye.

One other favorite Ohio cookbook is a little spiral bound book you’ve probably never heard of, titled “HAPPINESS IS…CHEVIOT PTA COOKBOOK”.  My sister Barbara was greatly involved with the compilation of this little cookbook, published in 1974 and she drew the graphic illustrations that appear throughout the book. It also contains many of our family favorite recipes.

I have to admit to also being very partial to all of my Quail Ridge “Best of….” cookbooks as well as a growing collection of cookbooks from Gooseberry Patch.  Both sets of books are filled with contemporary recipes that are generally quick-and-easy, important factors for today’s busy cook. (Thirty-something years ago, however, I would have said that the Farm Journal series of cookbooks were my favorites for everyday cooking. The Best of the Best as well as the Gooseberry Patch cookbooks remind me of the potato chip commercial that says “bet you can’t eat just one”. Bet you won’t be satisfied with just one of these cookbooks!

And, as I have spent more and more time over the years, researching and learning about books such as The Joy of Cooking, The Meta Given cookbooks, Myra Waldo’s collection of cookbooks and Jean Anderson’s  equally wonderful collection of cookbooks—I don’t think I could ever choose just one or two.  It’s sort of like that old saying, “When I’m not with the one I love, I love the one I’m with” – my favorite cookbook is probably the one I am reading right now. But if I absolutely had to choose just a few?  I think my first choice would have to be “Grandma’s Favorite”, a family collection of recipes that took us over 20 years to finally get published. My sister and I were finally able to get it to a publisher in 2004. Most of our family favorites are in this cookbook. I am also very partial to The Office Cookbook—another endeavor by coworkers and myself that also took over twenty years to get to a publisher. “The Office” referred to here is the one where I worked for 27 years before retiring in 2002.

But I have a confession to make: A few years ago a brush fire was burning dangerously close to homes in Quartz Hill, Palmdale and Lancaster. People were being evacuated close to my sister’s home, a few miles away.  At night, looking up the street, the line of fire coming over the mountain range was frighteningly close. For the first time I really DID think long and hard about what could be saved if evacuation became necessary. I then realized there would be no way to save my collections of cookbooks, cookie jars and other things. There would only be enough room for us and our pets and that would be assuming that I could get the cats into carriers. I did take out a valise and filled it with our most important documents. I could also save all the photographs that are on CDs but not the albums themselves. It was a moment of truth. Things can be replaced (maybe) but lives can’t.

But assuming we live in a perfect world in which our favorite things could be saved– what’s YOUR favorite cookbook? The one dearest to your heart?

Happy Cooking!

 

Sandy

 

 

LET THEM EAT SOUP!

This should have been before the last post. And I can’t find the original date I may have posted it – in 2009, I think. I know I have some photographs somewhere of some of my soups/tureens. Have to do a search for those too! -  sls

LET THEM EAT SOUP!

There is nothing like soup. It is by nature eccentric: no two are ever alike, unless of course you get your soup in a can.” Laurie Colwin, ‘Home Cooking’ (1988)

“From time immemorial, soups and broths have been the worldwide medium for utilizing what we call the kitchen byproducts or as the French call them, the ‘dessertes de la table’ (leftovers), or ‘les parties interieures de la bete’, such as head, tail, lights, liver, knuckles and feet.”                            –Louis P. De Gouy, The Soup Book (1949)

AND MY FAVORITE, FROM LEWIS CARROLL:

Beautiful Soup

BEAUTIFUL Soup, so rich and green,
Waiting in a hot tureen!
Who for such dainties would not stoop?
Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!
Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!

Beau–ootiful Soo-oop!
Beau–ootiful Soo-oop!
Soo–oop of the e–e–evening,
Beautiful, beautiful Soup!

Beautiful Soup! Who cares for fish,
Game, or any other dish?
Who would not give all else for two
Pennyworth only of Beautiful Soup?
Pennyworth only of beautiful Soup?

Beau–ootiful Soo-oop!
Beau–ootiful Soo-oop!
Soo–oop of the e–e–evening,
Beautiful, beauti–FUL SOUP! 

After writing a poem about soup for my poetry group, I was asked to post something on my Blog about making homemade soups. Soup is probably my forte–what I do best under the best or even the worst of conditions; when the pantry is well stocked or when I am scrounging through the frig for any leftovers suitable for a soup pot. My sister Becky had a name for the latter; she called it “clean-out-the-refrigerator-soup”. But here’s the thing –You can buy dozens of cookbooks devoted to soups/stews/chowders/bisques–a soup by any other name…but you don’t really need any cookbook or recipe to make a good pot of soup. All you need are some ingredients. One of my favorites is a leftover pot roast. The next day I dice up any left over meat, discarding fat, bones, gristle. I put it into the pot with the leftover gravy- and add some water. Then I add whatever leftover vegetables are in the frig. If there AREN’T any, I begin peeling potatoes, onions, and carrots, dicing everything to add to the pot. When it’s a beef soup that is cooking, I love to add a cup of dry barley a few hours into the cooking period. It makes such a great hearty soup. And for a little more heartiness, I like to add about a cup of burgundy wine. But if you don’t have any barley, you can add some rice – leftover or otherwise. Don’t be afraid to experiment.

Clam chowder is definitely hard to beat, especially if it’s made in a healthy way. This Hearty Clam Chowder from Eater’s Digest and JohnsHopkinsUniversity’s School of Public Health in Baltimore also contains only 380 milligrams of sodium, not bad for a “soup” dish.

Hearty Clam Chowder

Makes 9-10 servings

5 medium potatoes, pared and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3/4 cup chopped green onions, including tops
1/2 cup diced celery
1 carrot, thinly sliced
1/4 diced red or green bell pepper
1 tsp. minced garlic
2 cups water
2 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. salt (or to taste)
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Dash of hot pepper sauce
Two 6-1/2 oz. cans of minced clams
1/2 cup flour
2 cups unsweetened soymilk

Place potatoes, green onion, celery, carrot, bell pepper and garlic in large pan. Mix in water, butter, salt, Worcestershire and hot pepper sauce.

Bring to a boil, cover, and cook 15 minutes over medium heat or until potatoes are tender. Drain clams, reserving liquid and adding water, if necessary, to make 1 cup. Combine clam liquid with flour and stir to make a smooth paste. Pour flour paste into vegetables and cool, stirring, until mixture thickens. Add clams and soymilk. Continue cooking until chowder is hot.

My Clam Chowder:

5-6 potatoes, peeled and diced

1 onion, finely chopped

2-3 carrots, shredded

1 cup sliced celery

1can evaporated milk (12 oz) (you can buy evaporated skim milk if you are counting calories)

1 can undiluted Cream of Mushroom Soup

2-4 cans of minced clams, including broth

Salt & pepper to taste

Fresh parsley, if you have it, otherwise dried parsley flakes

Cover the potatoes, carrots, celery and onion with water in a medium size pot until tender, then add the undiluted cream of mushroom soup and evaporated milk. Add the clams (I like a lot of clams. I see recipes using one 6 ounce can of clams and wonder – where’s the fun in that?) If you can get BIG cans of minced clams, like they have at Costco, all the better. Cook it all and add seasoning to taste.  If it’s not thick enough by dinner time, add instant potato flakes to make it thicker. Another great addition is clam stock which is sold in small round jars, about 6-8 ounce size. It will last a long time and adds infinite flavor to the clam chowder. Leftover mashed potatoes can be added to the pot or even some leftover carrots, if you have them. I also like adding fresh sliced mushrooms to the soup (but feel free to add a couple of cans of bits & pieces mushrooms if you have them around).

This soup is really good with hot garlic bread. I remember one time, my brother Bill & I returned from a trip to Oak Glen (California)  to buy apples – and I made a quick pot of clam chowder when we got back home. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day. The apples became applesauce.

GINGERY PUMPKIN SOUP (this is very low in fat)

2 tsp vegetable oil

2 shallots, minced (2 TBSP)

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger*

2 cups pumpkin puree

2 cups reduced-sodium defatted chicken broth

1 cup orange juice

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp minced orange zest

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

A pinch of ground cloves

2 TBSP minced fresh parsley (optional) -but if you don’t have fresh, use dried.

1/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds (also optional)

Heat oil in soup pot over low heat; sauté the shallots, onions, and ginger in the oil until the onions are soft and golden. Be careful not to scorch the ginger. Add the pumpkin, orange juice, broth, salt, zest, pepper and cloves. Simmer for 10 minutes over medium heat. Garnish with parsley and pumpkin seeds, if desired. Makes 4 servings.

(Sandy’s cooknote: *Fresh ginger can be purchased in small jars and comes already finely minced. But if you buy fresh ginger–I have a tip for you. I’ve heard Rachel Ray tell viewers to freeze it. But I peel the ginger and pack it into a small clean jar and then cover it with sherry. It keeps indefinitely in the refrigerator this way and the sherry takes on the flavor of ginger and can also be used in other recipes.)

POTATO SOUP

3 medium potatoes

1 quart milk

1 small onion, sliced

2 TBSP flour

3 TBSP butter or margarine

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp celery salad

few grains cayenne pepper

1 tsp chopped parsley

Cook potatoes in boiling salted water until tender. Mash until smooth. Scald the milk with the onion, remove the onion and add the milk slowly to the potatoes, stirring constantly. Melt half the butter or margarine, add half the dry ingredients & stir until well mixed and add to the hot soup. Boil for 1 minute, strain and add the remaining butter and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Makes 6-8 servings (You could easily top this off with a bit of bacon and grated cheese!)

FAST & FIT POTATO CHOWDER

1 TBSP butter or margarine

1 cup chopped leeks or onions

1 cup diced red or green bell peppers

2 lbs (6 medium) potatoes, diced 1/2″

3 cups chicken broth

2 tsp dried thyme leaves

2 bay leaves

1 cup low fat milk

1 package (10 oz) frozen corn, thawed & drained

1/4 cup cayenne pepper

Salt and pepper to taste

In microwave, melt butter in a 2 to 3 qt casserole dish on high 1 minute. Add leeks and bell peppers; microwave on high 3 minutes. Stir in potatoes, broth, thyme and bay leaves; cover and cook on high 17 to 20 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaves. Remove 4 cups cooked potato with a slotted spoon and put into blender; add milk and puree until smooth. Return mixture to dish. Stir in corn, parsley and cayenne; season with salt and pepper; heat on high for 3 minutes. (If desired, pass bowls of shredded cheddar cheese, crumbled cooked bacon, drained canned clams or cubed cooked chicken or ham to stir into soup). Makes 6-8 servings.

CROCK POT DOUBLE CORN AND POTATO CHOWDER

3 large baking potatoes, peeled and diced

1 onion, diced

1 can cream of corn

1/2 to 3/4 bag frozen corn

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Black pepper

1 1/2 cups diced ham or 10 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled, or 1 1/2 cups roasted red peppers, cut to bite size, plus a pinch of crushed rosemary. Put all ingredients in the slow cooker; stir and cook on low 6 to 8 hours or until potatoes are tender.

MEXICAN POTATO SOUP

3  slices bacon, diced

3 large potatoes peeled and cubed

5 cups water

1 cup tomato sauce

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 Can (7 to 8 ounces) diced green chilies (buy the mild unless you are used to the hot or jalapenos and can handle the heat)

1/2 pound sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded

In a large skillet, brown bacon. Add potatoes and stir to coat. Add water, tomato sauce, onion and salt. Reduce heat to simmering and cook 1 hour. Divide chilies and cheese among bowls. Spoon hot soup over chilies and cheese and serve. Makes 6 servings.

MOM’S POTATO SOUP

(This is an old recipe from my mother’s collection)

2 ½ cups diced peeled potatoes (about 6 large)

2-4 cups water

1 TBSP salt

1-2 stalks celery, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

4 TBSP butter

¼ tsp pepper (white is best but not necessary)

¼ tsp celery salt

¼ tsp garlic salt

4 cups milk

Place potatoes in large heavy pot with 2 cups water. Add salt and cover and bring to boil. Reduce heat and cook potatoes until almost tender. While potatoes cook, sauté the onions and celery in 4 TBSP butter. Add pepper, celery salt & garlic salt. Stir onion mixture into the undrained potatoes. Add milk and more water if needed or desirable. Soup should be only slightly thick. Heat mix to boiling and reduce and simmer gently until flavors blend and mellow. Serve with either chopped chives or parsley afloat the steaming soup. Add a dollop of butter too. Serve with crisp crackers.

 Mexican Tortilla Soup

Weight Watchers style

8 ounces cooked, skinless, diced chicken

1 cup sliced or diced carrots

2 cups sliced thin celery

2 cups shredded or chopped cabbage

1 cup chopped onion

½ cup mild chilies

1 cup green beans

1 can whole kernel corn

½ cup diced bell peppers

1 qt tomato juice

1 qt V8 juice (or 2 quarts tomato juice)

1 qt tomatoes

2-3 chicken bouillon cubes

Water, if necessary, to make 6 quarts

Cook until all the vegetables are done. Add salt & pepper and any other seasonings

you like. I added chili powder to give it a little kick. You could also add tomato sauce or tomato paste. As listed, total is 16 points. One cup equals 1 ½ points

To make tortilla strips, cut 1 or 2 flour tortillas (I like to dry them out on a cookie sheet in the oven – but my old stove has a pilot light that is always “on” so there is just enough heat generated to dry out herbs or tortilla strips).

(Sandy’s cooknote:  Until a few years ago, we had never heard of Mexican Tortilla soup -I think it’s a relative newcomer to the culinary landscape – like cilantro. Twenty years ago you couldn’t find cilantro anywhere; nowadays, most supermarkets carry fresh cilantro and if you can’t find that you can buy freeze-dried cilantro. I have to admit cilantro is an acquired taste. As for Mexican tortilla soup, now you can find dozens of recipes. I began experimenting with making this soup, after the first time I tasted it in a Mexican restaurant. Living in California, we have a lot of exposure to good Mexican cuisine.

This next recipe is El Torito’s Tortilla Soup recipe from the LA Times SOS column 1990-91 and it may have changed since then. The point I am trying to make is that you can make Mexican tortilla soup a lot of different ways and if you leave out the shredded cheese, it’s a fairly low-calorie, low-fat recipe.

To Make EL TORITOS TORTILLA SOUP

4 CORN TORTILLAS

oil

2 ½ cups fish stock

¼ cup tomato sauce

2 TBSP diced celery

2 TBSP diced onion

2 TBSP diced green pepper

2 TBSP diced tomato

1 tsp white pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp ground oregano

1 bay leaf

salt

¾ cup shredded Jack cheese

¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese

Cut tortillas into strips. Deep fry in hot oil until crisp*. Drain on paper towels and set aside. Combine fish stock, tomato sauce, celery, onion, green pepper, tomato, white pepper, garlic powder, oregano, and bay leaf in saucepan. Season to taste with salt. Bring to boil and simmer 20-30 minutes.  To serve, place tortilla strips in bowl.  Cover with shredded cheeses and add broth. Makes 4 servings.

(*Sandy’s cooknote: I would not, personally, deep fry tortilla strips – I always cut them into strips and dry them in my oven. I also prefer flour tortillas over corn. If you can’t oven dry them without heat, I would suggest – cut the tortillas into thin strips and spread them out on a cookie sheet covered with foil. Dry them on the lowest oven temperature until crisp. We also prefer to put the tortilla strips on TOP of the bowl of soup, not under it – and then top it off with a little grated cheese – and, if you have it, a slice of avocado makes a nice presentation. Tastes good, too. Also, if you don’t have fish stock and don’t know how to make it – use a vegetable stock or even chicken broth made with bouillon cubes. It all works. One of these days I will write something about making your own basic stocks – which can be frozen until you are ready to use them).

Here’s one more recipe for Tortilla Soup and it’s pretty simple and straightforward:

TORTILLA SOUP

10 CUPS strong chicken broth

2 cups diced onion

¼ cup oil

6 cloves garlic

2 cups cooked chicken

2 tsp ground cumin

1 can Rotel tomatoes with green chilies

1 15-oz can stewed tomatoes

1 ½ tsp salt

½ cup chopped cilantro (optional)

¼ cup grated cheese per bowl

tortilla chips or corn chips

In a large pot, sauté onion and garlic until soft. Add broth and other ingredients except cheese; bring to a boil and simmer at least 30 minutes. Before filling bowls, put a few tortilla chips or corn chips in the bottom of the bowl. Add soup and top it off with a bit of grated cheese.

T.G.I. Friday’s French Onion Soup

3-4 medium to large onions

3 cans of beef broth

water

Worcestershire sauce

butter

Sargento cheese (Italian blend) 8 oz. bag (recommended)

French baguette

2 bay leaves

Dash of garlic powder

Dash of both salt and pepper

Slice the onions into rings and sauté in butter in a skillet until tender. Turn crock pot on to low and put in the cans of beef broth, bay leaves, dash of garlic powder and salt and pepper, 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce, and 3/4 cup of water. When the onions and butter mixture is tender then also add them to the crock pot. Cover and cook for at least 3-5 hours on low. At this point you may want to taste the soup and see if you would like it a little weaker–if so add a little water or chicken broth. Also, at this time remove the bay leaves and discard them.  When about ready to serve, slice bread into thin slices and toast in oven on 350 or in toaster oven until just crusty. Put toasted slices (1-3) in bowl and cover with the cheese (adjust cheese to your liking). Then cover bread and cheese with hot soup. The cheese will melt and the bread will rise to the top. Source: The Secret Recipe Forum:

(Sandy’s cooknote: Personally I like to add about a cup of burgundy wine to my French onion soup. But then I like Burgundy wine in a lot of my soups and stews. I have a big jug of Burgundy wine in the pantry that is used exclusively to cook with).

Here is my favorite recipe for Cream of Broccoli Soup.  When you buy a head of broccoli, peel the stems and cut them up and cook them along with the florets.  After dinner, put the cut stems and the leftover florets into a blender and puree. You need about 2 cups of puree to make the soup. (Save a couple cooked florets to add to the soup bowls)
Then, next day, melt 3 TBSP butter in a large, heavy saucepan over moderate heat. Blend in 3 TBSP flour; add 2 cups milk, and 2 cups broth (chicken, beef or vegetable). Heat, stirring until mixture boils; turn heat to low.  Blend in the broccoli puree, and add 1 tsp salt and a dash of white pepper.

Optional: pinch each of cardamom* and mace or ¼ cup grated mild Cheddar or Gruyére.
Using the same proportions of butter, flour, liquid and puree – you can also use this same recipe for cauliflower, onions or leeks, or cabbage. For carrot or green pea soup, use only 2 TBSP Butter and 2 TBSP flour – adding 1 tsp grated orange rind, or 1 tsp of nutmeg for flavoring.  This soup lends itself to most any vegetable, or combination of vegetables, that can be pureed and can be enhanced with your favorite seasoning.

(*Sandy’s cooknote: Cardamom! If you don’t have this spice in your kitchen cupboard or the spice rack – you are missing out. Cardamom–per Spice Islands–enriches diverse cuisines from Indian to Scandinavia. Its exotic flavor complements sweet cookies, breads and pastries as well as savory meat stews and curries. One of my favorite ice-box cookie recipes is a cardamom cookie. And from Google: “Once considered one of the world’s most precious spices—reserved for holidays, weddings and other special occasions—cardamom is captivating a new generation of admirers. With a hint of clove, the spiciness of ginger, and overtones of vanilla and citron, cardamom can add layers of complex, subtle flavor to any dish…”)

I thought I’d close this with MY poem about soup.

A BOWL OF SOUP

What is as fine as a bowl of soup

In a tureen, carried hot to the table,

Or a beef stew simmered with veggies and meat,

As wondrous as an old Aesop fable;

I love noodle soup or a tomato bisque,

My chili falls into this category,

French onion soup with melted cheese,

Russian Borscht served in all its beet glory.

Mushroom soup! PepperPot!

Or a Consomme!

Won Ton Soup! Morel Soup!

Cream of Pea and crackers on a tray!

Black Bean Soup! Cabbage Soup!

Or a pot of New England Chowder!

(Not for me Manhattan style–

For that I’d have to take a powder!)

Perhaps some Mulligatawny Soup,

Or some Minestrone!

I’d even eat some Bouillabaisse,

As long as it’s not boney!

Bring me a bowl of Orleans gumbo, 

Or any soup that’s bold,

Or let us have gazpacho that’s

Always served up cold.

Serve me cream of celery soup!

Carrot soup with Curry!

Bring me soups that cook all day

But dish up in a hurry;

Serve me spicy peanut soup

Or turkey soup with rice–

I’d gladly eat green lentil soup

But meatball soup is also nice.

Soup for breakfast! Soup for lunch!

Soup for a late night supper;

Let me have a cup of soup,

For a pick-me-upper.

Let me have War Won-Ton Soup,

Or Tortilla soup that’s spicy,

Let me have a cockle soup

Or lobster bisque that’s pricey!

Serve me cock-a-leekie soup

Or Egg Drop soup from China,

Serve it fancy, serve it plain,

I’m never going to mind-a,

Soups can be hearty or else light -

Feed one or feed a troop -

I’ll never tire or get enough

Of delicious homemade soup.

–Sandra Lee Smith

Happy Cooking! Sandy

 

 

LET THEM EAT (MORE) SOUP

LET THEM EAT MORE (VEGETABLE) SOUP

(originally posted on my blog in 2009)

It started innocently with my sister requesting a recipe. I thought she said “pea soup” But I learned the next day, I misunderstood. She was making a vegetable soup.  I can’t imagine how I heard “pea” when she said “vegetable”.

While waiting for her to arrive at my place, I looked up, and copied a slew of pea soup recipes. She didn’t want pea, she wanted vegetable. Oh, well, I said. Who really needs a recipe for making vegetable soup?  You just toss whatever you have on hand into a pot, add water or some cans of vegetable broth – and voila! You have vegetable soup. Then, of course, I began searching through my soup files for vegetable soup recipes and, admittedly – there are a lot of varieties.

Then, today, I wanted to use up a lot of leftovers in the vegetable crisper so I decided to make chicken/vegetable/tortilla soup, I had some leftover chicken breasts, about half a head of cabbage, plenty of carrots and celery–I also had some slightly old flour tortillas that would work nicely in thin strips dried in the oven–and a package of taco seasoning mix for flavor. (My reasoning being: I am going on vacation in a week, and anything in the refrigerator that doesn’t get cooked, thrown out, or frozen – will be a soggy decayed mess when I get back).  My chicken/vegetable/tortilla soup has turned out very nicely.

What you do is, fill a bowl with soup; sprinkle on some dried tortilla strips, and top it off with a sprinkling of grated cheese. A slice of avocado is also nice if you happen to have some on hand. It was a nice variation of my sister Becky’s clean-out-the-refrigerator-soup.

But getting back to vegetable soup – vegetable beef, vegetable chicken, plain vegetable soup – there are a lot of recipes from which to choose  (My sister pointed out – I didn’t have a recipe for vegetable soup on my BLOG. MY BAD. Mea Culpa.  So, brace yourself because I am about to rectify that omission.

This first one from my card file is very old, written in real ink and the card has yellowed. (I collect old, filled recipe boxes so sometimes there’s no telling where some of my recipes came from. No directions are provided.  (Do you really need directions to make soup?)

To make this vegetable soup, you will need:

VEGETABLE SOUP

2 quarts quartered tomatoes

2 dozen medium carrots, sliced

2 quarts cut green beans

2 cups chopped celery

½ cup chopped parsley

1 small head cabbage, chopped

4 small onions, chopped

½ cup rice or barley

2 quarts hot water

meat

Sandy’s Cooknote: I suspect this recipe was for canning vegetable soup.  But in today’s world? Make it up and freeze it in batches suitable for your household. I absolutely love the Gladlock 2-quart rectangular plastic containers. Once you freeze the soup, pop it out of the plastic container and put it into a Ziplock bag, then label it with a black marker. At my house we call these “bricks”. (I trade my bricks to girlfriend MJ, in exchange for doing all my sewing and mending. I-do-not-sew.  It’s a satisfactory barter system. She doesn’t like to cook).

And when a recipe for vegetable soup just provides you with the innocuous direction of “meat” – you can use a pound or two of stewing meat, almost any kind of beef cut – but my favorite meat to add to any vegetable soup is a 7-bone or chuck roast, already cooked and presented in one meal – then the leftovers cut up and turned into soup. Leftover gravy from the roast and any leftover vegetables can also be added.

Here is another old recipe called SKINNY SOUP for the simple reason that it’s made up mostly of vegetables, some high fiber, with a little leftover turkey meat, chopped up – if you have it on hand. If not, leave it out. It will be fewer calories.

SKINNY SOUP

To make SKINNY SOUP, you will need:

3 stalks celery, diced

3 large carrots, diced

1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

1 sweet onion, diced

½ head cabbage, sliced

½ pound fresh or frozen cauliflower cut up

2 medium potatoes, diced

1 cup frozen peas

3 cups water

2 cups leftover turkey meat, chopped (optional)

1 46-oz can tomato juice, preferably low sodium

2 TBSP fresh dill or 1 tsp dried

2 TBSP fresh basil or 1 tsp dried

1 tsp garlic powder

½ tsp ground pepper

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese for topping (optional)

Prepare all vegetables. Use a large soup pot. Add all vegetables, turkey (if using), water, tomato juice and spices. Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered 45 minutes to an hour or until vegetables reach your desired tenderness. Top with  Parmesan cheese when presenting in a soup bowl.  Makes 10 servings.

LISA’S THREE INGREDIENT VEGETABLE SOUP

This recipe was sent to me by Lisa, a penpal who lives in Ithaca, New York. To make Lisa’s Three Ingredient Vegetable soup, all you will need is:

1 16-OZ pkg Bird’s eye frozen mixed vegetables*

1 46-oz can tomato juice

1 3-oz pkg ramen oriental noodles with beef flavoring

Mix vegetables and tomato juice in a 5 quart pot. Heat to boiling. Add noodles and    flavor packet. Simmer 15 minutes; stirring occasionally.  8 servings.  What could be easier?

*Sandy’s cooknote: Canned or frozen mixed vegetables are my culinary best friend; I like to keep a lot of them on hand; they’re great in all kinds of soups and stews.

ALL NEW BASIC SOUP

To make ALL NEW BASIC SOUP, you will need:

5 medium carrots cut into 1” slices

3 medium celery stalks, sliced

3 large onions, chopped

1 large clove garlic, minced

2 cans (28 oz) tomatoes in juice

1 small head cabbage, sliced thin

2 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into 1” slices*

2 pkgs (5 oz each) baby spinach leaves (or use 1 10-oz pkg chopped spinach

½ cup fresh parsley or ¼ cup dried parsley

2 chicken flavored bouillon cubes

1 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

12 cups water

Coat an 8-qt pot with Pam. Over medium-high heat, add carrots, celery, onions and garlic. Cook 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and their liquid, breaking up the tomatoes with a fork or side of a spoon. Add the cabbage, parsnips, bouillon  cubes, salt & pepper and water. Heat to boiling over high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally until all vegetables are tender. Add more salt & pepper if desired. Makes about 25 cups.

*Sandy’s cooknote: I am not fond of parsnips. Ditto turnips. I would use a couple of medium size potatoes instead.

This next one is titled Mexican Vegetable Soup and appears to be a promotional recipe card from French’s since it called for an envelope of French’s Chili-O Mix.  Use a package of what ever chili seasoning mix you prefer.

To make MEXICAN VEGETABLE SOUP, you will need:

2 pounds beef soup meat plus soup bone (if you can find a soup bone nowadays! – back in the day, my childhood, you could get a soup bone from the butcher free)

2 TBSP salad oil

1 envelope chili seasoning mix

6 cups water

1 1-lb can tomatoes

1 can beef broth

1 1-lb can cream style corn

1 small summer squash, peeled and sliced

Cut meat in 1” cubes. Brown in oil in soup kettle or Dutch oven type pan. Add chili seasoning mix, water, tomatoes and broth; cover and simmer 1 ½ hours or until meat is tender. Add corn, carrots and squash; cover again and simmer 30 minutes. Remove soup bone. 6-8 servings.

Sandy’s cooknote: If you can’t lay your hands on a soup bone, don’t worry about it. Just leave it out. And if you don’t have any canned beef broth – dissolve 1 or 2 beef bouillon cubes in hot water and use that instead (TIP: Always keep chicken and beef bouillon cubes on hand!)

The following is a simple vegetable beef soup that is made with ¾ of a pound of extra lean ground beef. Three quarters of a pound? Why such an odd amount? I would use a pound of ground beef.  This recipe would be easy enough to throw together for a quick dinner – ready in an hour; serve with crackers or garlic bread.

VEGETABLE BEEF SOUP

To make VEGETABLE BEEF SOUP, you will need:

3 medium carrots, chopped

2 large potatoes, cut into small cubes

1 medium onion, chopped

3 ribs celery, with tops, chopped

½ tsp salt

1 tsp freshly ground pepper

About 3 cups shredded green cabbage (1/2 head)

¾ (or 1 lb) extra lean ground beef

1 quart tomato juice (low sodium if you are watching your salt)
dashes of Tabasco sauce (optional)

Combine carrots, potatoes, onion, celery, cabbage, ground beef (uncooked), salt and pepper in a large soup pot. Add enough water just to cover the vegetables and ground beef. Add tomato juice last and bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer at least 1 hour. Meat should be cooked and vegetables tender. Stir soup occasionally to break up the ground beef. Add a few squirts of Tabasco sauce if you want to give it a little zing.

Makes 10 servings.

This next recipe contains uncooked broken spaghetti, which is a twist – but reminded me that my sister Becky, whenever she made her clean-out-the-refrigerator-soup, would chop up any leftover spaghetti and add it to the pot near the end of cooking time.

To make MULTI-VEGETABLE SOUP you will need:

2 TBSP butter or margarine

2 TBSP cooking oil

1 cup thinly sliced carrots

1 cup thinly sliced zucchini

1 cup thinly sliced celery

1 cup finely shredded cabbage

1 large onion, chopped

2 beef bouillon cubes

2 tsp salt

8 cups boiling water

1 tsp Accent (optional)

1 can (16 oz) stewed tomatoes

¼ cup uncooked broken spaghetti

½ tsp thyme

Heat the butter or margarine and oil in a pot.  Add carrots, zucchini, celery, cabbage and onion; cook uncovered abut 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the bouillon cubes, water, salt and Accent (if you are using it) to the vegetables. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered, about 30 minutes.  Stir in the stewed tomatoes, spaghetti and thyme.  Cook 20 minutes.  Serve hot from a tureen. You can serve with a bowl of shredded parmesan cheese- personally, I like to have some hot garlic bread as an accompaniment.   Makes about 2 quarts soup.

This next recipe sounds like something someone created when the vegetable garden was overflowing.  You could make the soup with or without meat – if without, add a few beef bouillon cubes for flavoring.

To make GRANDMA’S HARVEST SOUP, you will need:

1 ½ pounds beef stew meat, trimmed and cubed

1 tbsp vegetable oil

10 medium fresh tomatoes, peeled and cut up

2 cups tomato juice

2 medium size onions, chopped

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

½ tsp pepper

2 tsp salt (optional)

6 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

5 carrots, cleaned and sliced

2 cups frozen or fresh corn

2 cups frozen or fresh green beans

2 cups frozen peas

3 ribs celery, sliced

1 cup sliced butternut squash

¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley (or 1/8 cup of dried)

1 tsp sugar

In a Dutch oven, brown meat in oil over medium high heat. Add tomatoes, tomato juice, onions, garlic, pepper and salt. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer 1 hour.

Now add potatoes, carrots, corn, green beans, peas, and celery. Cover and simmer an additional 30 minutes. Add squash and simmer 10-15 minutes more or until meat and vegetables are tender. Stir in parsley and sugar.  Makes 8-12 servings.

Sandy’s cooknote: Well, I think that’s enough of vegetable soup–it should give you something to work with. Don’t be afraid to use what you have on hand. And when you are chopping up celery or carrots (I like to have the Food Network on while I am puttering around in the kitchen), chop extra and freeze it in 1 cup portions in plastic ziplock sandwich bags–then when you are ready to make some soup, you already have some of the ingredients on hand and can just toss them into the pot. My sister Becky used to dump small amounts of leftover vegetables into a large plastic container and kept it in the freezer for making pots of soup.

appy Cooking!

WHEN LIFE HANDS YOU A LEMON

April is Lemon Month! Did you know that? I have been trying to verify that statement which I found on a Soup Plantation flyer but so far have been unable to confirm that any day or month is Lemon Month.  I found an interesting website on Google that lists all the days of the year and alongside it are the various foods for each date. No lemons. (there are some interesting foods listed for April—check www.tastespotting.com/features/aprilfood.

 But, if you were to find yourself marooned on a desert island and could only choose one fruit tree, you might give serious consideration to choosing a lemon tree.  Certainly lemons are one of the most versatile citrus fruits available to us today.

Here in Southern California we tend to take lemons for granted – I know I did when we lived in Arleta and had several lemon trees. And then Bob and I planted a Meyer lemon dwarf tree to add to our orchard!  Generally, if someone has a lemon tree or two, they are always trying to find someone who wants them.

It is thought that lemons were first discovered in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains, near the birthplace of Omar Khayyam, and that the Arabs who discovered them also were first to make lemonade.

There is some question as to when lemons were first brought to the New World. Food historians agree that the Spanish explorers were responsible for introducing lemons to the Americas; some historians believe that Columbus brought lemon seeds with him on his second voyage and that the first lemons grown in the New World were on the island of Haiti.

Florida was at one time the largest producer of lemons but a freeze in 1895 destroyed the crops and they were never replanted.  Today California is the greatest lemon-growing state, producing about 85% of the lemons consumed in the United States and Canada. Here in Southern California, the Land of Lemons is Ventura County, the largest grower of the county’s biggest crop. According to the University of California Extension Service in Ventura, about half of the U.S. lemons regularly come from Ventura county trees. The value of lemons in 1991 surpassed strawberries and even Valencia oranges.

Lemons are an excellent source of Vitamin C. The fruit and juice can be used in hundreds of recipes; the rind can be shredded and used in various recipes and the oil goes into making lemon flavored extract, while lemon juice can be substituted for vinegar in any recipe except pickling recipes which call for vinegar.  Not only that, lemon juice has dozens of household uses, from removing stains to being great as a hair rinse.

You are probably familiar with some of the more common uses of lemon juice, such as sprinkling it on fish or adding it to homemade cocktail sauce…a slice of lemon in a glass of cold water is simply delicious…and is considered to be an aid to digestion. While most of us know that lemons are a fine source of Vitamin C, not all of us are aware that, despite their acid taste, lemons produce an alkaline reaction in the body. They contribute to needed mineral supplies of calcium, phosphorous and potassium.

The best way to judge lemons is by their weight; heavy fruit contains the most juice. The skin should be oily and elastic.  Lemons with large knobs on the ends will have less juice than those with sharply pointed ends. Also, pay attention to the color of the lemons.  Deep yellow colored lemons are usually fairly mature and less acidic than those that are lighter or have a slightly greenish hue.  Four medium size lemons weigh about one pound, and one medium size lemon will usually yield about three tablespoons of juice.  For the highest juice yield, have lemons at room temperature and roll them on a hard surface before squeezing. You can also put a whole lemon into the microwave for a minute which will make it easier to juice. One medium lemon will yield three teaspoons of grated peel (which can be frozen and used as needed).  Five to six lemons will provide 1 cup (8 ounces) of lemon juice. Not only are lemons high in pectin and can be used with almost any other fruit to make jams and jellies, you can even make your own homemade pectin with lemons.  Making your own pectin IS time consuming, but if you make a lot of jelly and jam, it may be worth the effort…during my last visit to the supermarket, I priced some powdered pectins at close to $4.00 a box. Yikes!

If you are the fortunate owner of a lemon tree, you probably have more lemons than you know what to do with…I know, I had lemon trees and I was constantly giving lemons away. In addition to all the lemon pies, custards, pound cakes, cookies, sherbets, and mousses that you can concoct with lemons, you can also use them in a variety of pickling and preserving recipes. First, I’d like to share with you the following recipe for making

LEMON PECTIN EXTRACT:

Seeds and coarsely ground white pith of 5 to 6 large, thick-skinned lemons, about 1 1/2 pounds or the equivalent weight in smaller lemons,

3 tablespoons citric acid or tartaric acid (citric acid is made from citrus fruit and labeled sour salt; it can be found in the spice rack at most supermarkets…tartaric acid is made from grapes and is sold by wine supply shops)

6 quarts water

Using a swivel blade peeler, remove and discard the zest (the shiny yellow outer peel–save it for another use or freeze in a plastic container), from the lemons but do not cut deeply; the pectin is in the white pith beneath the zest. It won’t matter if the peeled fruit is tinged a pale yellow.  Squeeze the lemons, reserving seeds, pulp and pith. Save the juice for another use.  Grind the pulp and pith coarsely, and measure. You should have about 2 cups. Place this, the seeds, 1 tablespoon of citric or tartaric acid, and 2 quarts of water in a 4 quart saucepan.  Let stand, uncovered, at least 2 hours, then measure the depth of the pan’s contents and make a note of it. Bring the mixture to boil over medium heat, stirring often to prevent sticking.  Boil rapidly until it is reduced by half.  Stir often toward the end of the cooking period, which will take at least an hour or more.  When the depth measures half of the original figure, pour the extract through a strainer or colander lined with 4 thickness of damp cheesecloth of at least 2-quart capacity.  Return the pulp to the saucepan, add another tablespoon of either citric or tartaric acid, and 2 more quarts of water, and measure and cook as you did the first batch.  No presoaking is necessary for this or the third and final batch.  The second and third batches tend to reduce more rapidly than the first.  Strain each batch when done, into the first one.  When you strain the third batch, squeeze the pomace (pith) to extract as much liquid as possible.  Put the extract through a clean, dampened jelly bag or two thicknesses of dampened cheesecloth, without squeezing. Let it drip several hours, until you have 6 cups of cloud liquid.  If you plan to use it within the next few days, refrigerate the extract in clean, tightly covered jars.  To store for future use, bring the extract to a boil in a 1 1/2-quart saucepan, then pack, boiling hot, into sterilized half-pint jars and seal. Process in a boiling water bath 15 minutes.  Store as you would for jelly.  Before using, always shake or stir the extract to mix in the sediment that settles during storage.  Makes about 4 1/2 cups. You will need 4 to 6 tablespoons of  homemade lemon pectin for each cup of fruit mixture to be used in making jam or jelly.

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LEMON MARMALADE

12 THIN SKINNED LEMONS

3 ORANGES

3 QUARTS WATER

SUGAR

WASH AND SLICE THE LEMONS AND ORANGES AS THIN AS POSSIBLE.  ADD THE WATER AND LET STAND OVERNIGHT. NEXT DAY, COOK THE MIXTURE SLOWLY OVER LOW HEAT UNTIL TENDER (ABOUT 2 – 2 ½ HOURS). MEASURE, THEN ADD AN EQUAL AMOUNT OF SUGAR AND COOK UNTIL THE JELLYING POINT IS REACHED.  POUR INTO HOT STERILIZED HALF-PINT SIZE JARS AND SEAL.

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LEMON MARMALADE #2

9 LEMONS

6 CUPS WATER

SUGAR

Cut the “knobs” from the ends of the lemons and discard.  Slice fruit as thin as possible; place in a pot with 6 cups of cold water.  Let stand overnight. Next day, cook mixture until tender-about 25 minutes.  Allow to stand overnight.  Measure fruit and liquid and add 2 cups of sugar for each pint of fruit and liquid.  Cook in small batches of 2 – 2 ½ cups to jelly stage (about 10-15 minutes per batch). Pour into sterilized jars; seal.  Process in boiling water bath 10 minutes.

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LEMON  CHUTNEY (MAKES 4 TO 5 PINTS)

6 LEMONS, PEELED

1 CUP ORANGE MARMALADE

1 CUP CIDER VINEGAR

2 1/2 CUPS WATER

3 CUPS SUGAR

1 TSP GRATED FRESH GINGERROOT

1 TSP GROUND NUTMEG

2 GREEN APPLES, PEELED, CORED, AND DICED

4 CUPS FRESH CRANBERRIES

1 CUP RAISINS

SECTION LEMONS AND CUT SECTIONS IN HALF; DISCARD SEEDS.  IN A LARGE POT, COMBINE LEMON SECTIONS WITH REMAINING INGREDIENTS.  BRING TO A BOIL, STIRRING CONSTANTLY. REDUCE HEAT AND SIMMER 45 MINUTES OR UNTIL SLIGHTLY THICKENED.  POUR INTO HOT STERILIZED JARS.  ADJUST LIDS AND SEAL. PROCESS IN A BOILING WATER BATH 8 MINUTES.

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SHARP LEMON SAUCE

(This sauce is very sharp and may not be right for everyone on your gift list – those who enjoy sharp flavored foods will love it!)

12 medium size lemons

3 tablespoons mustard seed

1 tablespoon tumeric

1 tablespoon ground white pepper

1 1/2 teaspoon whole cloves

1 teaspoon ground mace

3 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons salt

Grind rind from lemons; squeeze juice.  Place rind and juice in a heavy pan along with remaining ingredients and allow to stand for 2 hours.  Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, and simmer gently for 30 minutes.  Pour into a 2-quart crock or glass jar with a tight fitting lid and allow to stand 2 weeks, stirring daily.  At the end of two weeks, whirl in blender until smooth.  Fill hot sterilized jars with the mixture and seal; process in a boiling water bath 10 minutes.  (Serve as a condiment with fish or seafood).

MOROCCAN PRESERVED LEMONS

(Preserved lemons are often used in North African cooking; they’ll add a salty tartness to chicken, lamb, and vegetable dishes. Be sure to cover the lemons completely with salted lemon juice before sealing the jar.  The pickling juice can be reused and is handy to keep in a jar in the kitchen; replenish it with odd pieces of lemon.)

5 lemons

1/3 cup salt, – more if desired

1 cinnamon stick

3 cloves

5-6 coriander seeds

3-4 black peppercorns

1 bay leaf

freshly squeezed lemon juice

Quarter the lemons from top to bottom to within 1/2″ of the bottom; sprinkle salt on the exposed flesh, then reshape the fruit.  Place 1 tablespoon salt in the bottom of a sterilized 1 pint canning jar.  Place in the lemons and push them down, adding more salt and the spices between the layers. Press the lemons down to release their juices and to make room for the remaining lemons.  If the juices released by the lemons does not cover them, add freshly squeezed lemon juice – NOT commercial lemon juice and NOT water). Leave some airspace before sealing the jar. Turn the jar upside-down to distribute the salt and juice and then let the lemons ripen in a warm place for 30 days.  To use, rinse the lemons as needed under running water, removing and discarding pulp if desired.  There is no need to refrigerate preserved lemons after opening.  They will keep up to a year and the pickling juice can be used several times during the course of a year.

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PICKLED LEMONS

12 LEMONS

2 TABLESPOONS NON-IODIZED SALT

3 1/2 CUPS WHITE WINE VINEGAR

12 WHITE PEPPERCORNS

A LARGE PIECE OF DRIED GINGERROOT, MASHED

3 TABLESPOONS WHITE MUSTARD SEEDS

2 GARLIC CLOVES, CRUSHED

Using a sharp knife, cut skins of lemons lengthwise without cutting pulp.  Rub salt into cuts. In a shallow bowl, let lemons stand 5 days in a cool place.  Turn lemons occasionally.  Drain; reserve liquid.  In a large saucepan, bring reserved liquid, vinegar, peppercorns and ginger to a boil.  Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes.  Add lemons;  simmer 30 minutes.  Wash and sterilize 5 half-pint jars; keep hot until needed.  Using a slotted spoon, pack hot lemons in hot jars.  Add mustard seed and garlic to liquid.  Increase heat; bring to a boil.  Remove ginger; skim off foam.  Ladle hot liquid over lemons.  Wipe rim of jars with a clean cloth; seal; process in boiling water bath 5 minutes.  Let mature 1 month before serving.

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LEMON MARMALADE #3

6 LEMONS

1/8 TEASPOON BAKING SODA

1 1/2 CUPS WATER

5 CUPS SUGAR

1 POUCH LIQUID PECTIN

Remove peel from lemons and discard white membrane.  Cut peel into slivers. Section lemons, remove  seeds, and chop pulp.  Set aside. Combine peel, baking soda and water in a large microwave safe bowl.  Cover and microwave on HIGH until mixture boils, about 6 or 7 minutes.

Remove from microwave oven and stir in sugar and reserved fruit.  Return to microwave, uncovered, and microwave on HIGH until mix returns to a boil, about 18 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Boil at least 1 minute. Remove from oven and stir in liquid pectin.  Skim off foam.  Let rest 5 minutes, occasionally stirring gently to distribute fruit. Carefully ladle into hot sterilized jars; seal. Process 10 minutes in boiling water bath.  Makes 3 12-oz jars.

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LEMON GINGER MARMALADE

1 POUND LEMONS

3 SLICES FRESH GINGER

WATER

3 1/2 CUPS SUGAR

DAY 1: QUARTER LEMONS LENGTHWISE. REMOVE SEEDS, SLICE THIN, LEAVING PEEL INTACT. MEASURE LEMON PIECES AND GINGER SLICES AND COVER WITH AN EQUAL AMOUNT OF WATER IN A MIXING BOWL.  LET STAND OVERNIGHT AT ROOM TEMP.

DAY 2: BRING LEMON MIX TO A BOIL IN A HEAVY 4-QT STAINLESS STEEL POT. REDUCE HEAT TO A SIMMER & COOK FOR 15 MINUTES.  COOL TO ROOM TEMP AND LET STAND OVERNIGHT AGAIN.

DAY 3:  MEASURE THE MARMALADE BASE. ADD AN EQUAL AMOUNT OF SUGAR AND WARM THE SUGAR IN THE OVEN AT 250 DEGREES FOR 10 MINUTES. ADD SUGAR 1/2 CUP AT A TIME, ALLOWING MIX TO RETURN TO BOIL BEFORE ADDING MORE. CONTINUE COOKING UNTIL MIX COMES TO JELLYING POINT, WHICH IS 8 DEGREES ABOVE THE BOILING TEMPERATURE ON YOUR CANDY THERMOMETER. THIS WILL HAPPEN WITHIN 10 MINUTES.  REMOVE FROM HEAT; SKIM OFF FOAM. LET STAND 5 MINUTES. STIR, THEN POUR INTO HOT, STERILIZED JELLY JARS TO WITHIN 1/2″ OF TOPS. SEAL, PROCESS IN A BOILING WATER BATH 5 MINUTES.

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There are numerous recipes for making Lemon Curd.  Don’t be discouraged by the name–Lemon Curd is very much like lemon pie filling with bits of peel; it’s delicious and can be spooned onto cakes or used as a dessert topping, or as a filling for tarts.  None of the recipes in my collection call for processing the Lemon Curd in a canner – however; even though it requires refrigeration, it will keep for months if properly refrigerated. Be sure to use a double boiler when you make lemon curd–the eggs will curdle over direct heat. I use a large stainless mixing bowl that goes with my Kitchen Aid mixer and place this over a pot of simmering water.

ENGLISH LEMON CURD

1/4 CUP BUTTER

1/2 CUP HONEY

1/2 CUP LEMON JUICE

1 EGG

2 EGG YOLKS

GRATED ZEST OF 1 LEMON

Melt butter in top of double boiler set over simmering water.  Stir in the honey and cook for a moment, then add the lemon juice.  Beat together the egg and egg yolks; stir them into the lemon mixture, continuing the cook and stir until the mixture thickens, which may take as long as 10 minutes (it will thicken more as it cools).  Add the lemon zest.  Pour into a pint size jar and cover.  Keep refrigerated.

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This next Lemon Curd recipe is, in all honesty, my favorite of the Curd recipes.  I think all the lemon peel gives it a wonderful flavor.  If you have a lemon tree in your back yard–as I do–and find yourself with more lemons than you know what to do with, try making up a few batches of this Lemon Curd.  Accompanied by a small loaf of lemon bread, it makes a wonderful homemade gift for someone special!

LEMON CURD #2

4 LEMONS

2 CUPS GRANULATED SUGAR

5 EGGS

1 STICK (4 OZ) BUTTER (don’t substitute)

Scrub lemons; grate the lemon rinds finely.  Cut the fruit in half and squeeze out the juice. (Note: 1 good size lemon should produce about 3 tablespoons of lemon juice, or a total of 12 tablespoons of lemon juice for this recipe). Place the rind in a bowl with the juice, sugar, beaten eggs and butter cut into small pieces.  Place the bowl over a saucepan of boiling water, making sure that it does not actually touch the water.  Cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, until it begins to thicken.  Pour into warmed jars and cover.  Keep refrigerated.

Hint:  You can make orange curd using 4 oranges, or grapefruit curd, using 3 grapefruit, or even tangerine curd, using 10 tangerines and the juice of 2 lemons.

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LEMON HONEY JELLY

3/4 CUP LEMON JUICE

2 1/2 CUPS HONEY

1/2 CUP LIQUID PECTIN

Combine lemon juice and honey. Bring to a full rolling boil.  Add pectin, stirring vigorously.  Boil about 2 minutes.  Pour into hot sterilized jars.  Seal.

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LIGHT LEMON MINCEMEAT

This recipe comes to us by way of Canada. It can be used as a pie or tart filling or used to fill homemade cookies.  You can pour it into sterilized jars and attach to it a card with suggestions for using mincemeat.

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 cup raisins, blanched, drained and chopped

3 1/2 cups apples, peeled, cored and chopped  (4-5 apples)

1/2 cup pecans, chopped

1/2 cup lemon marmalade

2 cups white or brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground ginger

2 tablespoons dark rum

Combine all ingredients.  Spoon into sterilized jars, label and store.

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FRESH LEMON EXTRACT

2 TEASPOONS GRATED LEMON ZEST

1/2 PINT VODKA

MIX, LET STAND 4 WEEKS, SHAKING THE JAR OCCASIONALLY.

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LEMON MINT JELLY

1 1/2 CUPS FRESH LEMON JUICE, STRAINED

1 1/2 CUPS WATER

1 1/2 TEASPOONS MINT EXTRACT

1 PACKAGE POWDERED PECTIN

4 1/2 CUPS SUGAR

Combine lemon juice, water and mint extract in a medium size pot. Stir in pectin; bring to a rolling boil over high heat.  Add sugar and return to rolling boil.  Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat; skim off foam if necessary.  Pour into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/4″ headspace.  Seal; process 5 minutes in a boiling water bath.  Makes about 4 half pints.

The following recipe is from a very old regional cookbook published in 1874…but syrups are very basic and easy to make.

LEMON SYRUP:

1 1/2 LBS of granulated sugar for each pint of lemon juice.

Add some of the peel, cut into slivers. Boil all together for 10 minutes, then strain, bottle and seal with a cork or a tight fitting lid.  Mix lemon syrup with iced water to make lemonade.

Yum!

Happy Cooking! Sandy

EASTER GREETING!

So often we lose sight of the original (or perhaps not so original) reasons for celebrating holidays such as Christmas, Easter, and other events that were originally pagan holidays. When Christianity was in its fledgling years, the church elders wanted to steer people away from celebrating pagan holidays and instead, celebrate Christian ones, so many Christian holidays were built on a foundation of a pagan one. Sounds confusing? It is.

From Wikipedia we learn that Easter (also called the Pasch or Pascha) is a Christian festival and holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion at Calvary as described in the New Testament.  Easter is the culmination of the Passion of Christ, preceded by Lent, a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance. The last week of Lent is called Holy Week, and it contains the days of the Easter Triduum, including Maundy Thursday (also known as Holy Thursday), commemorating the Last Supper and its preceding foot washing, as well as Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus. Easter is followed by a fifty-day period called Eastertide or the Easter Season, ending with Pentecost Sunday.

What adds to the confusion is that Easter is a moveable feast, meaning it is not fixed in relation to the civil calendar. The First Council of Nicaea (325) established the date of Easter as the first Sunday after the full moon (the Paschal Full Moon) following the March equinox. (I can write it down much easier than I can explain it to anyone).

Ecclesiastically, the equinox is reckoned to be on March 21,  (even though the equinox occurs, astronomically speaking, on March 20 in most years), and the “Full Moon” is not necessarily the astronomically correct date. The date of Easter therefore varies between 22 March and 25 April. Eastern Christianity bases its calculations on the Julian calendar whose 21 March corresponds, during the 21st century, to 3 April in the Gregorian calendar, in which the celebration of Easter therefore varies between 4 April and 8 May.

But, like so many Christian holidays, Easter is linked to the Jewish Passover by much of its symbolism, as well as by its position in the calendar. In many languages, the words for “Easter” and “Passover” are etymologically related or homonymous.  Easter customs vary across the Christian world, but attending sunrise services, exclaiming the Paschal greeting, clipping the church and decorating Easter eggs, a symbol of the empty tomb, are common motifs. Additional customs include egg hunting, the Easter Bunny, and Easter parades, which are observed by both Christians and some non-Christians. Try explaining to any non-Christian how it is that Christians celebrate Easter and credit the Easter Bunny (which does not lay eggs!) with putting colorful eggs in a basket or hiding them in the back yard.

EASTER MEMORIES

The onset of Easter is on Ash Wednesday. Having gone to Catholic grade school, we went to mass every day before classes began, so on Ash Wednesday everyone walked around school with a black smudge of ash on their foreheads. Then we always made a big deal about what we were giving up for lent. The usual things were candy, soda pop, movies (not that we had very much of any of those things to begin with). In my family we always had some kind of fish on Fridays and there wasn’t that much meat to go around anyway.

I do remember my mother placing orders for new clothing from Sears or Montgomery Ward but the highlight of pre-Easter celebrations was going downtown to Shiff Shoes to get a new pair of shoes. These would become our new Sunday shoes and the old Sunday shoes would become everyday shoes. I think most of our shoes were functional, seldom dressy (until I got old enough to buy my own). I leaned heavily towards penny loafers and rarely wore saddle oxfords.

The Stations of the Cross would be said – I think – on Wednesday and Friday evenings. The statues inside church would be covered with purple cloths during Lent. In retrospect, I see that much of our lives revolved around the Church. Our church was St Leo’s, just down the street from my grandmother’s home. My father, uncle and aunt all went to St Leo’s too. My grandparents bought this three storied brick house when my father was about seven years old. Aunt Annie was a toddler who only spoke German and she got lost in the shuffle of the move. My father was sent to find her. I imagine most of the neighbors spoke German too. That part of Cincinnati was heavily populated with German and Italian immigrants.

The day before Easter we boiled eggs and colored them. Easter morning there would be a basket hidden somewhere for each of us. Imagine never refrigerating the boiled eggs—I told my granddaughter this recently. She was astonished. I said we never heard of salmonella poisoning.  And nothing in our baskets lasted very long anyway. Easter dinner may have been one of the holidays where the Schmidt family got together – often at grandma’s – and when everyone  had eaten, an adult would take the carload of kids to a movie theatre and drop us off there with just enough money for admission and either candy or popcorn.  I think Uncle Al usually gave us each a quarter. We thought he was rich.

By the time we got back to grandma’s, the adults would be playing cards and all the dishes had been washed up…by then everything would be brought out again for a snack before going home.

I don’t seem to remember very much about our Easter celebrations.

I remember buying a new outfit for myself, for Michael who was three at the time, and Steve, who was a baby. We were living in an apartment near the Warner Brothers Studio. I never gave much thought to whoever might be going through the nearby studio gates.

Well, I’m not here to explain Christian holidays—what I would like to do is share with you a couple of my favorite Easter holiday recipes!  My #1 favorite is my Cool Rise Cinnamon Rolls. Even as we speak, I have a pan of the cinnamon rolls rising in the refrigerator, to bake tomorrow morning.

Cool Rise Sweet Dough for Cinnamon Rolls

Stir together in a bowl:

2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

2 Tbsp dry yeast (or 2 little packets)

½ cup (1 stick of butter), softened to room temperature

Pour in 1 1/2 c. very hot water. Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Add:

2 eggs (at room temperature) and

1 c. flour

Mix on high speed for 1 minute.

Gradually add in 2-3 more cups of flour until the dough is thick and elastic, pulling away from the side of the bowl.

Turn dough out onto counter or a cutting board. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes.

Divide the dough into two balls. Roll out one ball at a time. Roll out into a rectangle that is roughly 10×14 inches. Spread melted butter over the top of rectangle to within 3/4″ of edges. Sprinkle sugar on top of the butter. Sprinkle cinnamon on top of that. Distribute raisins over the butter/sugar/cinnamon. Starting with one side, roll up the dough into a long, thick roll. Slice into individual rolls and place in a 9×13″ pan on their sides. I try to get 12 rolls out of each ball of dough and put 12 to a pan.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-24 hours. The flavor really improves if you refrigerate this recipe overnight. Before baking, remove from fridge and let sit on the counter for at least an hour.

Bake at 350° until golden brown. Remove from oven. While they’re still hot, drizzle some glaze over them. Serve warm. Glaze: a cup of powdered sugar, a drizzle of melted butter, and just enough milk or lemon juice to make a runny glaze. Recently, I saw a bunch of glaze recipes and so I tried one. I was very disappointed with the results. Note to self: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

This is a versatile sweet dough recipe and you can make a lot of coffee cakes with it.

My next favorite holiday recipe (for any holiday!) is my friend and former co-worker Nina’s recipe for making deviled eggs.  I have no idea how many different recipes I have tried for deviled eggs—but always come back to Nina’s recipe!  At work, when we had pot lucks, Nina had to set out one batch for immediate consumption as people arrived at work. She’d have a second batch when the dishes were put out for the department at lunch time.

To make Nina’s Deviled Eggs

6 hard cooked eggs
1/4 C mayo or salad dressing (less if eggs are very small)
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp horseradish
salt to taste
dash of pepper

Nina writes, “I very rarely add salt or pepper, but it depends on what you like. My recipe book also has alternatives: Add 2 TBSP crumbled crisp bacon, or 1 TBSP finely chopped olives, or 1 TBSP finely chopped green-onions or chives.   Enjoy!”

Sandy’s cooknote: I made two batches of Nina’s eggs today, for tomorrow’s Easter dinner at the home of my youngest son and his wife. Don’t add salt! There is already a salty taste to this recipe, which I think comes from the mayonnaise (always Best Foods or Hellman’s brand of mayonnaise) or the horseradish. I topped the filled eggs with a very light sprinkling of Paprika.  **

I   generally associate cookie making with Christmas but Easter is also one of the occasions when I make up lots of large egg-shaped cookies; two of the cut-out egg shaped cookie dough fit on a cookie sheet so you will go through a good amount of cookie dough and I prefer to bake one sheet of cookies at a time* so it takes a while to get the cookies baked.  I baked cookies for all the ladies on my bowling league last week—they each got a carrot-shaped glazed cookie, along with a yellow chick cookie and a white glazed bunny cookie. I’ve done this a few times for holidays – Christmas and Valentine’s Day and now Easter. Now they call me the Cookie Lady.

*The reason I bake one sheet of cookies at a time is because my stove is almost as old as I am and I can bake two sheets at a time, by checking them after five minutes and switching the trays around – but if I am in a hurry or working on frosting, I do one tray at a time and set the timer. I made a lot of cookies this year—who doesn’t like cookies?

I made a batch of Hot Wings for an appetizer but those are so easy—does it even constitute a recipe? I like the McCormick’s brand of Buffalo Hot Wings spice mixture and bought a 4 pound bag of wings with the tips already cut off. All you have to do is mix the raw chicken wings with the seasoning mix and bake them on a cookie sheet in the oven. The directions don’t say so, but trial and error has taught me not to put the wings directly on the foil-covered cookie sheet—I use a rack. You won’t believe how much oil collects on the sheet underneath the wings. A lot!

My sons like the wings best if they are “dry” (not greasy) so I baked them at 450 degrees for 25 minutes according to the package directions—but they weren’t “dry” so I turned the heat down to 250 and kept them in the oven for well over an hour checking every 15 minutes to see if they felt and looked “done” enough. These wings are not mouth-burning hot like many hot wings ARE but we have young children who like hot wings and so the recipe has to be toned down for them.

I’m not hosting Easter dinner this year—I haven’t for a few years. Tomorrow I will prepare for the kids to come and decorate Easter cookies and then make some Easter eggs with construction paper and stickers. Then there will be an egg hunt at my son’s and after dinner, I am going to my sister’s so I can see my nephew and his girlfriend and my niece who I haven’t seen since Christmas. Our holidays are a far cry from those of my childhood.

I wish you all a Happy and Joyous Easter holiday.

Sandy

NUTRITION ACTION HEALTHLETTER

While I can’t copy all the explanations for the following 10 super foods, I can provide you with an email address to order a copy of the list.

1. SWEET POTATOES
2. MANGOES
3. UNSWEETENED GREEK YOGURT
4. BROCCOLI
5. WILD SALMON
6. CRISPBREADS (i.e., such as Ry-Krisp)
7. GARBANZO BEANS
8. WATERMELON
9. BUTTERNUT SQUASH

10. LEAFY GREENS

To request a copy of this list, write to orders.cspinet.org

Sandy

 

LISTS, LISTS, MORE LISTS

We’re more than halfway into January and a couple more lists have come to my attention.  Well, one of them must have come in the mail encouraging me to renew my subscription to Rachel Ray’s Everyday magazine. Or maybe it fell out of one of her magazines—I don’t always remember how I acquire bits and pieces of stuff – like someone else’s list. This one was titled 12 Bites of Every Day Food Wisdom from Rachel.

• Recipes: First Things First – Rachel instructs us to always read each menu or recipe through before you begin. It’s the best way to check out your ingredient list and get familiar with the steps. Good tip. I find myself checking the list of ingredients first, then reading through the recipe and then, often as not, I go back and re-read some vital piece of information, like yesterday when I was making pistachio dried cranberry ice box cookies for my daughter in law. I was well into the recipe when I asked myself “wait!  Where does the egg fit into this?”  Turns out the egg is just an ingredient that gets brushed onto the dough before it goes into the oven.
• Shortcuts: sometimes Okay. Rachel tells us there are times when store bought items simply make sense. For example, she often suggests pre-shredded cheese and pre-cut veggies as options in her recipes. One of my favorite short cut ingredients is pre-made salsa, green or red, that comes in many sizes and varieties. I poured some into my chicken tortilla soup a few days ago to give it the kick that it needed.
• Substitutions: Why Not? Rachel says personally she rarely uses them but it’s up to you. Substitute freely, she says, as you like or need. If you prefer reduced fat cheese and dairy products, she warns, be aware that the consistency of spreads, dips or sauces may be slightly thinner. I just want to add—my youngest son had to give up dairy for health reasons; I began buying soy-based shredded cheddar cheese for him; we tried different varieties until he found one the most palatable. Personally, I despise salt substitutes and would rather use less and stick to the real thing—well, we did graduate to sea salt.
• Smell and Taste as You Go—Rachel says learning about food and flavor is part of developing as a cook. Bu tasting and sniffing your way through different types of recipes, your palate will play matchmaker and you’ll learn how to associate flavors and textures that complement one another. I thought this tip was just about as basic as anything you could learn at your mother’s elbow or in a high school cooking class—and I taste everything as I go. I keep a pan of hot soapy water in the sink to drop the spoons into so there’s no double dipping, but you know what? It amazes me how often a chef on the Food Network program CHOPPED (which I love) hasn’t TASTED his or her recipe as they went along. The judges often ask “Did you taste this?” knowing full well which contestants have or haven’t seasoned a dish. Those judges don’t miss much!
• One-Fell-Swoop Washing.   After a trip to the market, says Rachel, unpack, rinse and re-pack greens—like parsley—in plastic bags with damp paper towels before storing in the fridge. It cuts prep time all week. And I want to add, I repack and freeze almost all meats that I buy in quantity. My daughter in law’s tip is to buy large quantities of boneless chicken breasts when on sale and then she repacks and freezes them in one quart size freezer bags. She always has the amount she needs on hand, and the one quart bags take less time to defrost.
• SWEETENING SAUCE: To sweeten tomato sauce, says Rachel, don’t add sugar; add half a mince onion to the garlic beforehand. Let it soften and sweeten over medium low heat for 10 minutes, then add to your tomato products. I confess, this is a new one for me.  I can’t wait to try it.
• PACKAGES BROTHS: Broths and stocks have come a long way in the last few years, says Rachel; not only with taste and consistency, but in terms of packaging. They now come in re-sealable containers found in the soup aisle. The proper containers make storage of remaining product super easy. Stock up. I have to agree with this but want to add that I search for any of these products to be  on sale and then stock up.
• GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT. Rachel keeps a big convenient earthenware garbage bowl on the counter for everything from peelings to pits to plastic wrap as she is cooking. It saves steps and time by eliminating unsanitary and repetitive trips to the trash can across the kitchen and keeps junk out of the sink drain and out of your way. I want to add to that—before we moved to the high desert where it’s not exactly safe to have a compost in a coyote might visit your back yard—Bob had a large compost area in Arleta that was walled in. All the grass clippings and leaves went into the compost along with most compostable-items such as carrot and potato peelings. He had a steady supply of rich compost soil for planting.
• E-Z SLICING-For easy slicing of raw meat, pop it  into the freezer for 10 to 15   minutes before starting to prepare the meat. This firms it up and you’ll find that it will be easier to control the thickness of slices. (all very true—sls)
• CRUNCHY CAPERS. Roasting gives capers a new flavor. they become a little nutty and earthy and they pop when you bite down! I’d like to add to this that my favorite fish recipe is a white fish sautéed in lemon juice and sprinkled with lemon pepper—then sprinkled with capers.
• Oil & Vinegar.  When dressing an oil and vinegar always put the acid (vinegar) on first before the EVOO. If you add the oil first, the oil keeps the acid from getting to the greens, and your salad isn’t really “dressed”.  My comment about this one? I never add any kind of salad dressing to salads; I put them on the table for everyone to add their own favorite salad dressing. The leftover greens stay fresh this way.

Happy cooking! Sandy