Luscious Lemon Tart and Lovely Orange Cake

I am sure if I had access to Meyer lemons, this might have a bit more zip.  But I intend to use what I have and that would be plain old lemons.  I thought Giant Eagle promised me they would carry Meyer lemons on a regular basis, but I might have been gathering wool at the time. This is another recipe from Southern Living Pies, my newest cookbook which I did not need, but pie press lures me in every time. Baking takes my mind off of Glenda's operation which is happening as I write.  It is her third in three months and this one will hopefully be successful.  Thankfully, Beth's mother is on the mend and doing well. Age is taking its toll, one loved one at a time.

Now, it's the crust that gets me every time.  I am not a patient cook and I want it to do its thing and hop in the oven all within a few minutes, but noooooooooo, it's got to do this, and have that, and chill (sounds like a teenager, and acts like one.)  I beat it yesterday with the coconut crust which is all I am ever going to need, but I press on any way to the easy cream cheese crust for beginners.  I remember this from making pecan tassies. That dough was so easy to maneuver.

Cream cheese pie crust:

6 tablespoons room temperature butter
2 oz. room temperature cream cheese
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tablespoons iced water
Beat first four ingredients at medium speed. Gradually add flour, beating at low speed. Add iced water beating until mixture forms a ball and pulls away from sides of bowl. Shape in a disk and chill for an hour.
Roll out and fit in a tart pan or a 9 inch pie plate. Freeze 10 minutes while you are making your filling.

Choose your own filling, but I am going to use the lemon tart filling.  If it works well with the given crust, I will type in the lemon tart  recipe (filling.)  If not, you still have a great crust with which to work. (Oh, pecan pie filling would be great in this crust.)

As promised:
Lemon filling for the above crust or any crust.
1 medium- sized Meyer lemon or other thing-skinned lemon
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
3 tablespoons whipping cream
1/4 tsp. salt
4 large eggs (I like jumbo)
powered sugar for dusting
Prepare your tart pan with the removable ring.
Trim the lemon's ends and cut in 4 wedges, then cut the wedges into halves. Remove and discard seeds.
Process lemon pieces and next 6 ingredients in a processor or blender until smooth, scrape the sides and blend again..
Bake 350 for 35 to 40 minutes until filling is nearly set.  It will continue to set when cooling.  Cool completely and dust with powdered sugar and YUM!

Paula Deen can bake and this orange cake proves it.  I've just pulled it from the oven and just tasted the orange icing that will go on when the cake is cooled.  I thank her and wish her well.  She got a bum's rush from Food Network and I haven't liked them since.  They do not stand behind their people, never have and she is no exception.

Paula's Orange cake:
1  1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. salt (I don't use that much.)
2 sticks of butter, softened
4 eggs
2 tsp. pure orange extract
1 tsp. grated orange zest

Stir together the flour, sugar and salt.  Add butter, eggs, orange extract, and zest.  Using a mixer beat until well blended and pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until light brown and set. Allow cake to cool.

Frosting: (I am not an icing person, so this one is really sweet to me.  I would not use that much confectioners' sugar...but as you like it.)

 1 package cream cheese softened
4 tablespoons softened butter
1 pound confectioners' sugar (I didn't use that much.)
2 tablespoons orange zest
2 tablespoons orange juice

Frosting (which is luscious)
In a large mixing bowl whip the soft butter and soft cream cheese with an electric mixer.  Gradually add the sugar until it is combined and smooth.  Beat in the zest and juice. Spread on cooled cake.

Pie Birds~

Amazon and I have something going on.  They allow me to buy stuff and I agree to pay. It is a wonderful arrangement and one that suits. I also have something going on with the delivery men.  They can't seem to stay away from my driveway.  Several times a week they bring me gifts and today was no exception.

I expect your grandmother had some pie birds.  When I was dealing, I would find these delightful creatures in England and brought many home, some to keep, some to sell to collectors.  I don't see them used much any more, but it is still a good workable idea.  When a pie is ready to go in the oven, fit one of these birds in the center and their open mouths allow the steam to escape so that the pie isn't flying all over the oven.

My gifts today, one of which I have used already, centers around books.  I adore the one I just received ...the Southern Pie Book by Jan Moon.  I was so inspired I made the coconut pie crust this morning filling it with luscious coconut cream filling.  It is cooling in the frig as I write.  Southern Living is one of those magazines that has not lost its touch.  It is still elegant and well presented.  I hope it knows when to bow out, unlike Ladies Home Journal that hung on until it became pathetic. I hope aunt Faustie in heaven is looking down with pride at my attempt to make a pie of any sort. It is a difficult task for some reason but the coconut crust has inspired me and also, look at this, who would have thought.  Rather than fight the crust, cut it in disks and with fingers form it into the tart pan.  DUH!

Now look at these little individual beauties!  4" iron skillets to bake individual servings for your family and friends--place a big dollop of ice cream on top and bring the skillet to the table for each of your guests. You can also bake your brownie in this little skillet and serve it with ice cream as well.  (I will be contacting Amazon yet again today to order my little iron skillets.) I will be harping pies for the next few blogs but first let me mention my other items in the Amazon box:  The French House by Don Wallace. And, of course more Stuart Woods books. I am obsessed with these books for some reason.  I guess they remind me of Lee Child's Reacher books.  I have a busy week ahead but reading time and baking time are scheduled in.  Unfortunately, we are not having the Cincinnati family here for the 4th.  Glenda has her third major operation in as many months tomorrow.  I can't have her missing another event so as soon as she can get in a car, the event will be on.

In case you don't read David Lebovitz's. blog from Paris, here is a simple dish that I want to try. ( His recipe, his picture.)

Chickpea, Lemon, and Mint Salad
4 servings, as a side course
This is a fine salad to serve as part of a meal along with other salads, so people can graze around, taking a bit of what they want, when they want. As mentioned, it’s pretty important to use good quality dried chickpeas; I’ve noted some sources below. Although we don’t get them in Paris, fresh green chickpeas are showing up at markets in the United States, and are available in other parts of the world, and it might be interesting to try this salad with them.
To cook dried chickpeas, rinse them and remove any stones or other debris. Put them in a large saucepan or Dutch oven, and cover with plenty of water. If you live in a place with hard water, you might want to add about 1/2 teaspoon baking soda to the water, which aids in softening of the chickpeas. Cook at a gentle boil until the chickpeas are tender; it will take about 1 to 2 hours. Once cooked, remove from the heat and drain. Soaking the beans in water overnight will speed up the process, and dried chickpeas double in volume when cooked.
In certain parts of Italy, red pepper is a lot more common to use than black pepper. So if you want to add some of either, feel free to do so.

• 3 cups (150g) drained, cooked chickpeas
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint leaves
• grated zest of 1 lemon
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• optional: red or freshly ground black pepper

1. In a large bowl, toss the chickpeas in the olive oil, with the salt, mint, lemon zest and juice, and pepper, if using.
2. Taste, and adjust seasonings to you liking. Depending on the type of mint used, you might want to add more.
Serving and storage: The chickpeas should be served at room temperature. They can be made and refrigerated up to 2 days in advance.

Easy breakfast:

*Quick and Easy Bacon and Egg Tarts*

Serves 6

2 cans of refrigerator crescent rolls

6 large  eggs

12 slices of  bacon, partially cooked

3 TBS freshly grated Parmesan cheese

salt and black pepper to taste

chopped fresh parsley and more Parmesan.

I made a coconut cream pie yesterday and used this recipe which needs repeating because the crust is incredibly easy and delicious.  There is only one piece of pie left in the frig from yesterday, so somebody liked it pretty well. Today I am trying the cream cheese crust for beginners from my new Southern Living pie book.

Coconut Pie Crust

Stir together the following:
1 1/2 cups of Baker's sweet coconut (It's the best.)
6 tablespoons graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
Then once that is mixed together pour 4 tablespoons of melted butter over the above mixture and stir again.
Press the mixture into a pie plate forming a crust.
 Bake at 350 for about 8 minutes or until golden

Boston Bert's Seafood

                                             

This is my year for discovering delicious food out side of my own kitchen.  Forget New Orleans Po' Boys, we have Bert's Seafood on Indianola.  It is a little white trailer with a deep fryer, a refrigerator and two open windows for taking orders, one on each side.  Nate has been telling me about this little business because I am always whining about a food truck.  So now that my hair dresser is mended and I am feeling better about myself (after her being off- foot for three months), I passed by Bert's, turned around and went back to order a $7. shrimp Po' Boy. Well, I am delighted to say it was delicious.  The shrimp were plump and succulent, lightly breaded and not fried to a bullet texture.  Fried perfectly each time because when Matt came today (Friday) we introduced him to the little fixture for dinner and he had the most perfect fish sandwich.  We are raving.  Tomorrow I am going to interview Kate.  She runs the place and she sounds interesting.  Matt heard her say she has fourteen grandchildren and that she wishes her children would quit having children.  Amen.


Corner of Indianola and Blenheim

So prepare yourself for pictures and the story behind this little clean trailer parked in Cheeseman's auto repair shop lot (I kid you not) on Indianola.  If someone would have told me I was going to rave about seafood from a trailer from an auto repair lot, I would have called them silly.  This is the type of vehicle one would find at events and fairs and places like that.  In fact, if I am not mistaken I believe she said she does those events.  Any way, more about it tomorrow.

Update:

Corner of Indianola and Blenheim  in Clintonville
614.306.8212

Clintonville has had a secret haute mobile food scene for quite some time that was largely off the radar.  Most people think of Ray Ray’s Hog Pit BBQ as the first Clintonville cart. Such is not the case. There was another cart at Weber and Indianola which burned down in 2008.   Then there was a burger and hot dog cart at the corner of Blenheim and Indianola (Keith’s Sunoco) for nearly a decade which was recently replaced by Boston Bert’s Seafood.

Boston Bert’s is open Monday to Saturday from 10:30 am to 6:00 pm.  The owners are Bert and Katie Merrill, ably assisted by Chef Bob Slatter.  Orders can be phoned in at 614 306 8212.  The menu includes:  beer batter fish and chips, shrimp Po’ Boys, roast beef sandwiches, fried bologna sandwiches, burgers, chowder and hush puppies.  They also have the Bloomin’ Onion for you Outback Steakhouse fans.  The cart is swarmed with Marzetti employees at about 11:30 am as they make their lunch and shift breaks from the plant across the street. Katie makes the carts “secret sauce” and their is word she would like to have the Marzetti plant add her sauce to their line. In the meantime, drop in and see them for your fried seafood fix.

Amazon is my favorite place for ordering stuff.  I was looking through their extensive cookbook collection today and ordered a Southern Cooking pie issue.  Have you made a coconut pie crust?  Why didn't I think to do that?  It is so delicious and if you like coconut like I do, then Bob's your uncle.  I love pie but fight the crust making process every time.  I am making this today if my heel holds up. (Have you ever had a bruised heel?  It's a pain I can do without.  I need to be on foot and moving.)

Coconut Pie Crust

Stir together the following:
1 1/2 cups of Baker's sweet coconut (It's the best.)
6 tablespoons graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
Then once that is mixed together pour 4 tablespoons of melted butter over the above mixture and stir again.
Press the mixture into a pie plate forming a crust.
 Bake at 350 for about 8 minutes or until golden 

North College Hill Bakery...the best!

I just love bakery ladies...don't you?

                             

Is that a creme horn sitting next to that German chocolate cake?

This week end we went to Cincinnati to stay with Joe and Glenda for fun and to help out since they were unable to go to Hilton Head for the first time in seventeen years.  We cheered them up and I rediscovered the best bakery in the nation: North College Hill Bakery.  When I was dating Andy at Otterbein we used to go to Cincinnati for special dates and dances with his high school friends and Hilda, Andy's mother, discovered how much I liked the German coffee cake from the Greenhills bakery.  They too must have been German because this week end I found the exact coffee cakes at an old established bakery in North College Hill.  It was Saturday morning and people were actually running to get inside this tiny shop.  Numbers were given and one felt rushed to make room for other customers but I escaped with two coffee cakes; a cherry cheese one and an apple one.  There were hundreds more I wanted but the crowd the crowd.  I left the apple one for Joe and Glenda but brought home the cherry cheese one for today's lunch.  Mike ate half of it!  He remembered it from when HE was a little boy and carried on about how many of his Cincinnati memories were made up of this coffee cake. I also bought their slider buns which are terrific.  It is a place to rave about.  I want to make this style of low and long or round and thin-based coffee cake (I think I can do the top) but I can't find a recipe for it, so I am going to have to experiment, darn it.

Here are some shots of their products. And here it is. my favorite!

Did you say cherry cheese danish? Be still my heart!

And, here is a resounding review:

Best Coffee Cakes in Cincy

07/05/11 • Likes it

Diner from Cincinnati • DanH • 1 review

I moved from NCH 54 years ago and I now travel 150 miles to NCH Bakery two or three times a year to buy numerous coffee cakes...specifically double butter and apple cinnamon. I usually buy 10 to 12 (they freeze nicely). Cheese Danish is also a favorite on my list. There is no better pastry anywhere.

North College Hill Bakery

Crispy, flaky, cinnamon-sugar coated elephant ears - baked fresh today.

Is that cherry strudel? Is some of that coming home with me?

by Audrey Gose

Wedding Cake

by paula5835

Peanutbutter pie

by Dr. M. Teresa

North College...

by Dr. M. Teresa

North College...

So I am into coffee cakes and here is my rendition from this morning.  The base is more sturdy than the bakery and so I need to refine it to a more cake like base...although my base hold up much better and does not get soggy.

 

                   

Cherry cheese coffee cake. (Andy says it looks

like a pizza.) Click on this picture to get a good view of what it really looks like...and it is delicious.  I got the topping right.

Get your bibs on~

Yep, it's time to break out the ice cream maker.  This time last year we were heading for Hilton Head with the family carrying our trusty new ice cream machine with us. It got a work out every day for a week and I have not used it since.  But three things happened to call my attention to this cool goodness: Williams-Sonoma has a new product shown above.  An ice cream mix concoction which I ordered the minute I viewed it and I will let you know if it is good as it could be...or if you have already used it, I'd like to read about it. Then, my niece called to say Glenda and Joe can't go to Hilton Head on Friday because Glenda re injured her leg that has been operated on two times already. So Andy and I are going down to see them for the week end so they won't feel so badly about missing Hilton Head for the first time in seventeen years. And, lastly, the family will be here for the 4th and they better have their bibs on, because it will be an ice cream eating frenzy.  We may have ice cream as a starter.

Note:  I have a whine.  There was a blog that I have (had) on my favorites and I read it every day even before I checked my own, my mail, or my Facebook.  It was an English blog or at least it is written from England.  I just loved it and referred to it many times in my own blog. But, more and more it became ads for free products sent for testing to this woman. (Coupled with her frequent lament about her lack of funds  it became obvious and tiring.)  She still has to this day lovely recipes, good writing, and nice pictures of her food that she produces every day--all good qualities, all hard work.  But we are inundated with ads every where we turn and I don't mind learning about new products such as the ice cream mixes (above) that are entirely new to me, and paid for by me.  But showing a free blender (and who does not own a blender?) and writing and writing and writing about it and then showing some recipes she used with it is not what I want to see. So when someone commented about this on her blog, she was furious and wrote scathing replies.  So I added my two cents in a nice way, at least for me, and she was displeased again.  So, you will not be hearing another thing from her 'gimmie'  kitchen on this blog.

Note:  You know that I did not like the book Delicious.  But, I just finished Chiefs by Stuart Woods and  it was so good I hated to have it end and it was a many-paged book.  I look forward to passing it on to Andy and then Joe.  We seem to like the same type of books although Andy goes off on these historical tangents every once in a while.  He is so enjoying his summer class at Ohio State with several football players in this sports related class.  He is signed up for every day of the week starting fall semester.

DELICIOUS by Ruth Reichl Or, Gag Me With A Spoon

               A better title would be Gidget Bakes A Cake.  I cannot finish this insipid, disappointing book!                              

Guess what I am doing today?  Ruth's book arrived late yesterday or I would have  been up all night.  Instead, I am sitting by the pool and reading this cover to cover, work forgotten.  Dogs fed, dishwashers going, everyone out the door full of frititta and Ruth and I are alone at last.  I have read everyone of her books, in fact, she got me through sleepless nights in Paris many times. She has a way with words using them to draw the reader into the fold.  If you have not read her, try: Tender to the Bone; Comfort Me with Apples; Garlic and Sapphires; Endless Feasts, and, For you, Mom, Finally.

Note:

Don't rush out to buy this book.  It is not as good as I had hoped and I may have trouble finishing it.  Maybe I need Paris to enjoy her work, but maybe she is just off on this one. (Or maybe I am off and stuck on Stuart Woods' books.  (Still like his work and I have read sixteen of his books so far; one while I was trying to get through Delicious.) I am, however, still working on Delicious, hoping for the best, but fearing the worst.

picture from

David Lebovitz

Speaking briefly about France, look at these French fresh strawberries...red through and through like a berry is supposed to look. When we find them here, like this, it is a real treat.  Otherwise, forget it as far as I'm concerned.

One of the new cakes from the Country Cook, Brandi, lured me into thinking I should picture it for you and make it.  Brandi now has a 'fix' on her pictures, which is a shame because they entice people to make the cake. But, alas, until I make the Lemon cake for you, you can't see it.  It reads tasty.  Can't do it today, I am reading Delicious, but if you want to try it...

One box of French vanilla cake mix.  Make the cake with the ingredients and directions on the back of the box. Pour the batter into a greased baking dish and take a can of Comstock lemon pie filling and put dollops of it all over the cake then swirl the contents around in any design you like.  It won't matter because it is going to sink into the cake any way.  Bake the cake at 350 until your oven indicates it's done, around 40 minutes.

Cool the baked cake.  For the frosting take one tub of lemon flavored frosting and one tub of thawed Cook Whip and mix them together really well and frost the cake with this mixture.  Cool again.

Note: She and I use Comstock pie filling but if you can't find it use any canned filling or make your own.  One might even try ready made lemon curd too--haven't done that, but why not?

The Country Cook  (I made this today and it is delicious.)

Lemon Dream ~ Never mind, I figured out how to get the picture, but do try The Country Cook on Facebook and on Pinterest. She's good.

Stehlin's Meat Market~ Cincinnati

I have no idea what is wrong with this blog posting.  I have lost the last two blogs that were posted and cannot get the new one on at all. I will try it later.

                                                                                           

The start of the cheese ball.

The finished product which can nearly always be found in my frig.



The morning frittata which can usually be found waiting for consumption by whom ever wants to start their day in goodness.

Stehlin's meat market on Coleraine Avenue in Cincinnati has served the city for over one hundred years.  I have shopped there for at least forty years off and on...and now on a lot. My niece, Pam, has brought me lovely things over Memorial Day and I am putting them to very good use.  Their dried beef for the cheese ball shown above is the best bar none.  I nearly always have this form of cheese ball in the frig for drop in guests who come for drinks and a bite.  I got the recipe from a woman who was in my wedding fifty-five years ago and when Glenda (my sister-in-law) and I first saw it we raced to see who could make it first and best.  Now Glenda follows the recipe exactly but I adventure and stray to add things that make it even more delicious.  You can't hurt this recipe so if you are kitchen challenged, this is your go to recipe.  Simple take two room temperature boxes of cream cheese and then dice and chop and season with anything that goes well with a savory cream cheese...onions of any kind, chives, hot sauce (or not), olives (if you like them) herbs of all kinds and on and on.  The stores have dried beef but Stehlin's is the best.  Pam also brought two packages of ox tails which are burbling away in the crock pot as I write. They slow cook in Mr. and Mrs. T's spicy bloody Mary mix and wine with vegetables After everything is taken out one has a lovely tomato soup to enjoy first. The ox tails come in a tied bouquet and they are a delightful treat for soups, on mashed potatoes, noodles and many other combinations.  The meat falls from the bones and I put the bones in the frig for the dogs' treats.  Stehlin's bones were the first real bones my  dogs have ever chewed. (Thank you, Pam.)

  Now the frittata has a potato base and again, anything goes here even scatterings of dried beef, left over ox tail meat, sausage (which Stehlin's is known for) bacon, then top it with whipped eggs and cheese.  Start it on the stove and once the eggs are on pop it in the oven and Bob's your uncle.

Stehlin's, I am told, is the only shop to butcher their own meat out back of the store.  It is theirs, fresh, and delicious.  I am told recently a cow from there escaped and tried to get to the freeway to get the heck out of town. He didn't make it and was captured.

Make it memorable~ company's coming

                                               
                                                           

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The number of Memorial Day guests has risen to over thirty. The cooking is well on the way and tomorrow is work day indoors and out for all the Lechlers here at Many Branches. I've made two cakes so far today.  This rum cake if from the Nordic bundt cake book and, of course, this is baked in a Nordic pan.  The rum glaze is exceptional and can be used on many different cakes.  There is also rum in the batter.  If it tastes as good as I think it will, I'll post the simple recipe.

We are supposed to have 83 degrees and sunny Monday.  Sounds perfect.  This week has been fantastic for loafers and workers alike.  In between cooking and waiting for things to come out of the oven, I have two Stuart Woods books that I am reading, one upstairs and one downstairs.  Woods has around forty novels  that he has written and I just discovered him.  I've read seven so far.  That's what I do.  I find an author I like and devour him/her and then search for another that I can get attached to. Since my TV shows are gone for the summer I am into House of Cards.  It is so good and distasteful at the same time.  If  our government is really that bad, then we are in real trouble.

Well, I'm off to the next dish.  If it is pretty I will take a picture for the blog.  I am busy setting up serving stations as well for the two meals for Monday.

Note: It is Sunday and everyone came after church to eat and swim.  They are all looking forward to the Cincinnati gang's arrival.  Families are great and it is a treat that everyone enjoys the company of others.

Cook's Corner is back~

At last.  The Dispatch has hired Lisa Abraham as food editor and the section of this newly formatted newspaper is back to interesting.  I was so afraid that Cook's Corner would simply wither and die while the sports section continued to nibble taking up more and more space.  I look forward to Wednesday mornings with my coffee and the cooking section with all of its helpful information, places to go, things to try and hints such as this one: Someone asked Lisa the difference between cake flour and regular all purpose flour and it is because of the levels of protein. Who knew? If a recipe calls for cake flour and you only have regular flour this is what you do: Take regular flour and for every 1 cup of this (all-purpose) flour, remove 2 tablespoons of that and replace it with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Stir to combine.  Cake flour makes lighter cakes.  Today her section is full of interesting recipes such as custard-filled cake. Each time she is listing and describing a  cookbook that she has discovered to be exceptional.  She has a contest going to name a food that Columbus is famous for and of course one of the choices for which to vote would be Buckeyes. How about shaved asparagus with mushrooms and Parmesan crumble?  Shaved asparagus reveals more flavor. Who knew?  I am trying this recipe too. After I finish reading this section of the paper, I'll get back to the blog.  I have many more things to reveal from the pages of Cook's Corner. Yea! Thank you, Lisa.

Custard filled cake

1 tablespoon lemon juice 6 tablespoons orange juice 1/3 cup water 1/2 cup sugar 2 tablespoons flour 1/8 teaspoon salt 3 egg yolks 1 1/2 cups whipping cream 2 teaspoons vanilla 1 tablespoon sugar 1 two-layer cake, white or yellow

Cook lemon juice, orange juice, water, 1/2 cup sugar, flour, salt and egg yolks in the top of a double boiler until thick. Cool.

Beat cream, vanilla and sugar until whipped cream holds its shape.

Fold small amount of whipped cream into custard and use to fill cake. Pile remaining custard filling onto top of top layer of cake.

Frost top and sides of cake with remaining whipped cream.

— M.B., Columbus

SHAVED ASPARAGUS WITH MUSHROOMS AND PARMESAN CRUMBLE

Makes 4 servings

2 ounces Parmesan, grated Generous 1/3 cup walnut halves 1 pound medium asparagus 1/4 pound white mushrooms 1 tablespoon minced chives 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon lemon juice Salt

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silicon sheet or parchment paper. Spoon the grated Parmesan in 1-tablespoon mounds on the sheet and press lightly to flatten. Bake until the cheese is melted and browned, about 7 to 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool.

When the Parmesan crisps are done, place the walnuts on the baking sheet and bake until toasted and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Remove and cool.

To shave the asparagus: Lay a stalk flat on the cutting board, holding it at the base. Starting at about where the pale base turns green, use a vegetable peeler to shave the stalk in long, even strips all the way through the tip. When you’ve gotten about halfway through the stalk, turn it over and start on the other side. When you reach the point that the peeler will no longer shave the spear, rest the spear on top of the flat handle of a wooden spoon to elevate it and take the last two or three strips.

You can either discard what remains or save it to make an asparagus soup.

Trim the bottoms of the stems from the mushrooms so they’ll sit flat on the work surface. Using a very sharp knife, slice the mushrooms as thin as you can.

Combine the asparagus shavings, mushrooms and walnuts in a large mixing bowl, and toss gently.

Place the minced chives in the bottom of a small bowl and cover with the olive oil. Add the lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and whisk until smooth. Pour all but a teaspoon or so of the dressing over the asparagus mixture and toss gently with your hands to lightly coat. Add the rest of the vinaigrette, a little at a time, as necessary. Season with salt to taste.

Arrange the salad on a platter, and crack the Parmesan crisps over the top in large pieces. Serve immediately.

You can view the entire Cook's Corner on line, but it is not as satisfying to me as holding the paper for some reason. Dispatch.com/food

Try not to kill your family and guests according to Doyle:

Wash fruits, vegetables ( I must admit, after reading this I am going to be more careful!)

Food-borne illnesses are often traced to fruits or vegetables, so pay extra attention when preparing them.

All fruits and vegetables should be washed under cold running water to help eliminate bacteria.

Even with a clean knife, the bacteria on the outside of a melon’s rind can be carried to the inside of the melon’s flesh. Take a brush and scrub summer favorites such as watermelon and cantaloupe under cold running water before cutting into them.

Tests have shown, Doyle said, that the friction from the scrubbing and rubbing eliminates bacteria more effectively than does running water.

“It’s as important or even more important as the washing,” he said.

The natural sugar in fruit makes fruit the perfect petri dish for bacterial growth, so dishes such as fruit salad and tossed salad face a greater risk of contamination than mayonnaise-based salads.

Even bacteria that would usually be harmless can multiply to harmful levels on cut fruit.

Washing fruits and vegetables, Doyle said, also helps to eliminate any pesticides lingering on their surfaces.

Prepare to be happy~

I've decided on reflection that I am going to choose to be happy.  Nothing is going to get me down.  I have a good life and it seems the lives of others have a ripple effect that can cause one to be tense, nervous, and, down right unhappy.  But their (adult) choices are not mine, their mistakes are not mine, and their troubles are not mine, so why make them such?  You give your best advice and if they don't take it and want other options then they misinterpret the meaning of ' best advice.' I have also come to the conclusion that some people thrive on drama and if that is the only way they can get attention they stir the pot until everything and everyone  is in an uproar. When I was in Paris I rented an apartment from a woman named Marion.  She was so chipper and happy and everything was just all right with her--YES, she was French. She had cancer and was on foot, but with the knowledge she was to die in short order.  Beyond that, she had many children who had this trouble and that trouble, grandchildren out of control, and a husband with a reputation, yet she one day decided to always be happy and positive and that is the way she lived the last years of her life.  It was beautiful to behold.  The last time I rented her apartment she stood on the steps waving me and my fifteen trunks good-bye and as I looked back I knew it was the last time I would see her.  Yet her lesson keeps reappearing in my mind.  You have it good, decide to be happy. She had it bad and she decided to be happy, so I am one step ahead of the game. You know the people with troubles are going to out live you and one day they are going to have to get it right and they will have to do it on their own without your best advice, which they usually don't take any way.  So why keep on keeping on?

So on to happy notes: We re having around twenty-five people for Memorial Day.  It is to be, I read, 83 degrees and sunny.  Perfect.  I have been making two dishes a day to get ahead of the game.  I'm setting up the serving areas and Andy is the store runner and the pool man. He likes those jobs.  Yesterday I nearly killed my back weeding the bricks and trimming around the pool, work that I hate. ( Oops, see, it is not easy to be positive when it comes to bad weeds.) However, I loved the results. There. I'm back to positive. (It takes practice and as long as I don't drive past the welfare offices during the first week of the month, I can maintain positive.)  I am an inside girl and that work I don't mind.  Unless I am sitting in the sun reading or playing cards and having drinks, I don't want to be doing anything more strenuous than that outdoors.

So the menu: Two meals, one around brunch time with starters, asparagus and Mushroom Frittata (why in color and under lined?), cheese boards, wings, chicken balls, ham and bean soup, ribs, pastas of many kinds, salads, pulled pork sliders, buffalo chicken sliders and pies by Pam.

 Meal two: deviled eggs, hamburgers, brats, hot dogs on the grill, fruit salads, sides. (Plenty of wine, cocktails and various drinks.)

We are celebrating Alex's graduation with honors, Andrew's return home from service for good and unharmed, and our men in service and our wounded warriors whom we should all be taking care of in as many ways as possible. Thank you for your service to our country,

Happy days ahead for all of you and a wonderful Memorial week end.

Comfort Food and Comfortable People~

Growing up we often had hamburger steak for dinner.  I don't recall ever having a regular steak at home. We had this dish with mashed potatoes and gravy made from the drippings from the frying of the hamburger steaks. Delicious.  I have to say I have never made this dish in all the years I have been married and I don't know why. I saw this picture from South in your Mouth and vow to take this on  one day soon.  I do also recall as a child the best hamburger I have ever put in my mouth was fresh beef  in hamburger form straight from the butchering.  It has an entirely different taste and one that is remembered all these years.

Then there is pizza.  Ahhh. I was a senior in high school on a date.  We went to this little place in Parkersburg, West Virginia and my date ordered this beautiful pie.  Had never seen one.  Had never heard of it.  When I tasted it it was cast in the 'memory taste' that stayed with me and it is a fond thought. I remember the pizza but forget the boy who bought it. The next year I attended Otterbein and had pizza on a regular basis.  In fact I walked eight miles for pizza with my sorority sisters on a walk for some cause--forgot the cause remember the pizza AND the eight mile walk.

It started when we were newly married in one of the very first apartment building areas in Columbus off of Olentangy Road.  Our new friends kept wanting us to come for coffee and I wondered why?  I was not a coffee drinker and my parents never had time to 'go for coffee' or 'come for coffee', so it took me a long time to get it.  Now,it is a comfort that I enjoy every day.

 

We are looking forward to today and Joe's family reunion. I don't have to cook and that is a lovely thing. I'll have pictures, I'm sure.  Even though I am not cooking we are not going empty handed: we have Joe's gift Maker's Mark and a new whiskey (to us)called Knob Creek named after Lincoln's birth place in Kentucky.  I've not seen Joe drink that, so it should be a nice treat for him.  Stuart Woods, the author of around forty novels and ones that I am really in to at the moment, wrote of Knob Creek Bourbon in many of his books. Then our niece Kathy loves brussel sprouts and eats them like popcorn.   I am taken a dish of those for her. Her husband gets Mr. and Mrs. T, a spicy bloody Mary mix that I find to my liking and I wanted him to try that.   Tom and Chee enjoy my homemade granola, so we have some bags of that for them.  Pam gets wine and George gets granola too. We five will be there with bells on in just a few hours, with pleasure.

We had a great family reunion today in Cincinnati.  Here are some pictures. Click on the pictures to make them larger.