Talking over recipes

Yesterday, I talked over recipes with my girls. First, I got lots of persimmon questions and so I am channeling my great grandmother, Aunty Co, to answer these...ha! Yes, persimmons can go either way...be a sweet delight or a bitter pill to swallow. There are a two kinds I like...I don't know which I ate as a kid. I was 12 when Aunty Co died at the age of 94.  "Hachiya" is the pear shaped one and "Fuyu" is the flatter shaped one. Both must be fully ripe in order to be sweet and delicious. If not eaten as raw as a fruit, they are great mashed into a puree, made festive with lots of cinnamon and turned into a pudding. A picture of the fuyu was in yesterday's post. Here is a pix of the hachiya...

Mom and I have talked lots...not only is it the day before Thanksgiving but in our world, it is the day after Dancing with the Stars. She has watched every season and most of the time, I have watched along with her and we share woohoo's and rants every week. This season I should have recorded some of her phone messages. They are hysterical. Not this: "Hi Pensy...This is Mom. What did you think?"  But this: "Oh, she needs to stop whining!" click or this: "What a crock!" click.

Recipe-wise, she found a fresh veggie variation for the traditional green bean casserole. Neither one of us have that recipe in our holiday mix and so it is curious that she has a "new" version that has her so excited. She is going to let me know the taste verdict...looks yummy in the picture.

Sweet daughter, fabulous cook Lissa and I have talked gingerbread. I have scads of gingerbread recipes and two favorites. I usually make one of them to go along with our favorite pumpkin pie. Yesterday, it boiled down to, "You know, Momma, I want the one where you forgot the sugar one year." Obviously, a really good recipe that can't be wrecked, sweetened or not!

Here is our Corn Pudding recipe which came from Country Living magazine decades ago. When at home, I do use canned or frozen corn. When in Shelter Island, I use fresh, guaranteed-to-be-still-sweet corn...yes, some farm stands still have it!

1 17-ounce can creamed corn
1 17-ounce can whole kernel corn, drained
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar 
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into bits

Preheat oven to 350 and generously butter a 1 quart casserole. In a large bowl, combine corn, eggs and milk. Add sugar, flour and salt and stir until well mixed. Pour into casserole and dot with butter. Bake about 1 hour. Serves 6-8.

One of the beauties of this recipe is that it is good hot, room temperature or cold. Cooks choice. Christian and Resh, I think you two have the honors making the corn dish this year. It will be delish! oxxoxo 

And so, although we are not going to be together, we are together. Kisses for all my cooks!

Grandparents

Thanksgiving always reminds me of my paternal grandparents, Papa Dick and Grandma Jean. That was the holiday we spent with them.

After much ado, we piled in the car and drove from Cleveland (early days) and later from Pittsburgh. In the real early days, we would stop over at my great-grandmother's, Aunty Co's, apartment near Central Park. She was an eccentric creature, world-traveled by the time she was in her early thirties and delightfully full of it. Her apartment had wonderful, exotic treasures including a gilded birdcage that had a little canary look alike in it that when wound up, chirped and chortled its glee. She also had persimmons waiting for us, always perfectly ripe and sweet. It is really an art to get those fruits just right. And, of course, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was a must. So much fun. I still love watching it.  http://social.macys.com/parade2010/#/home

From the city, we trekked over to Shelter Island where a simple feast awaited us. Gram Jean was an excellent cook, straight up about foods and flavors. Local all the way....turkey, oysters and clams, corn and potatoes, lima beans.

I have two favorite food memories about Thanksgiving. One is the drumstick. Both Papa Dick and I got one and winked at each other with every bite as if we were the only two folks in the room. Made my day. The second memory is of Papa Dick and Gram Jean's fruitcake. No flour- just fruits, nuts and rum...lots of it. They made a light and a dark version that my parents sliced paper-thin for me so I wouldn't get too much of an alcohol-laden jolt. Gosh...it is sad that fruitcake has such a bad name. Theirs was amazing.

But the most favorite memory of all is of them, just them.

And so, this The Red White and Food post is for grandparents everywhere, at the table or in the heart. It really doesn't matter whether you share a meal from scratch, from catalogues or from a menu or whether you share it the day of or days later. It matters that you are there.

Cinderella, Cinderella

It is always a plus to live in a neighborhood full of nice people. I love my neighbors. But what is really fabulous is living in a neighborhood full of nice people and fabulous cooks. It seems like everyone on our street can work it and cook it. And oh, how I love to taste it. Forget borrowing the unnecessary cup of sugar. Here is what one talented neighborhood duo "whipped" up in their kitchen while listening to NPR. Ambrosia!

Stuffed Cinderella Pumpkin

1 1/2 cups fresh white bread crumbs
4 to 6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 pound bacon*
1 Cinderella pumpkin
1 tablespoon soft butter
Salt, to taste
8 ounces gruyere, coarsely grated
1/2 pound creme fraiche (or 1 cup heavy cream)
Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
Fresh thyme leaves, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Tear bread into small pieces, place on jellyroll pan and sprinkle with minced garlic. Heat in oven for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until dried.

Meanwhile, cut bacon into dice and fry until crisp. Remove from grease with a slotted spoon and set aside on paper towel-lined tray.After bread is toasted, remove and turn oven up to 400 degrees.

With a sturdy knife, cut a cover off the pumpkin about 4 inches in diameter. Hold the knife at an angle while cutting. Scoop out the seeds and strings and either set aside to roast later or throw away (into your compost heap, of course.)

Butter the inside of the pumpkin and the underside of the lid with the softened butter. Season the inside of the pumpkin with salt. Place the pumpkin on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. (An alternative is to place the pumpkin in a pot or tureen in case it collapses.) Inside the pumpkin, layer bread, bacon, cheese, creme fraiche or cream and sprinkle with salt, pepper, nutmeg and thyme. Repeat until pumpkin is full. Replace top on pumpkin and place in oven.

Cook for 1 1/2 hours or until the pumpkin begins to soften on the outside and the filling begins to bubble. Turn tray once or twice during cooking.

Lower heat to 350 degrees and cook 1/2 hour more, until the pumpkin is tender but still holds its shape. If it's getting too brown, cover it loosely with foil. The pumpkin may be kept warm in a 200-degree oven for 1/2 hour. It does, however, stay hot for a very long time.

To serve, remove cover and dip into the pumpkin with a long-handled spoon, scraping the flesh off the pumpkin's bottom and sides for each serving. Serves 10 as a side-dish.

*I would omit bacon or use a meat-free substitute...some are actually quite good.

Recipe for Love: Online Dating by the Numbers

For those 6 minutes and 35 seconds, especially minutes 2:00 through 4:00, OGT was spellbound, held deliciously captive by ABC'S Nightline.

The call came in about 10:55 p.m. our time. It was Shashi, "Did you see it?!! Did you see it?!! Oh, it was wonderful!" Christian had given the heads up earlier in the day that the piece would probably air last night and it did...in an earlier time slot on the East Coast and in a delayed one here.

When Shashi called, I honestly expected to sit rapt in hopes of seeing a hand, a fleeting glimpse of Christian at work. The whole crew at OK Cupid is wonderful and so my cheers were ready. Although it is kinda weird writing about this, that is what blogs are for...little daily diaries of thoughts and discoveries, some very personal. While this is not a new discovery, I have heard my mom say it again and again, "Once a mom, always a mom" and I have to say, those 6 minutes and 35 seconds were just fabulous and filled with a special joy. Love you, sweetie! xoxoxoxox Momma

It's Official!

Kids...here's your girl...

The "papers" came in the mail yesterday. Our adoption of "Daphne" was matched by a benevolent donor, Ady Gil, and so we let our "cheerful and loving" Daphne pick out one of her BFF's to join Ady's flock. Two birds are definitely better than one. You go, girls!!!

In honor of creating this new tradition of adopting a turkey, I wanted to give a tip of the fork to an old one and share a favorite recipe I make every Thanksgiving. Were Daphne a guest at our table, I believe she would gobble it up! According to her papers, she loves cranberries.

The apples in the picture are a sweet treat indeed and a great addition to this recipe. They are Razor Russets...an heirloom variety that is my favorite apple ever. My sweet mom sent me a box of them last week. Perfume-y, sweet, crunchy and juicy...apples to the max. Use whatever apple is your favorite in this recipe. While most of the time, I serve this crunch as a "side", it also makes a wonderful dessert or breakfast.

Apple Cranberry Crunch

3 cups chopped apples (I don't peel them)
2 cups cranberries, washed
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour (I use white whole wheat. Gluten-free AP flour will work, too)
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 stick unsalted butter, melted

Mix apples, cranberries and sugar and place in ungreased pan. Mix remaining ingredients and crumble on top of fruit. Press down lightly and bake, uncovered, in a 325 oven for 40-45 minutes.