Lundi: Recipes

Today, another curious recipe from The White House Cookbook, which I mentioned earlier this year. This one is for a dessert called Lemon Toast. I haven't tried it yet but it sounds delightful and lemons - perhaps because of my location - always remind me of spring.

This dessert can be made very conveniently without much preparation.

Take the yolks of six eggs, beat them well and add three cupfuls of sweet milk; take baker's bread, not too stale, and cut into slices; dip them into the milk and eggs and lay the slices into a spider, with sufficient melted butter, hot, to fry a delicate brown. Take the whites of the six eggs and beat them to a froth, adding a large cupful of white sugar; add the juice of two lemons, heating well and adding two cupfuls of boiling water. Serve over the toast as a sauce an you will find it a very delicious dish.

It does sound delicious and, I imagine, the home cook could simply fry the bread in a pan rather than utilizing a "spider" with which I am unfamiliar. Bon appetite ~

Header: Bodegon by Benjamin Palencia c 1924 via Old Paint

Lundi: Recipes

My daughter's middle school library recently held a Scholastic book fair and, being a family of four bibliophiles, we could not miss it. Among other things, we stumbled upon the title America's Most Wanted Recipes: Just Desserts by Ron Douglas. Mr. Douglas, who has written more than one of these books, is a genius at deciphering the ingredients in famous restaurant recipes and offering them to the home cook.

Just Desserts includes recipes from such diverse restaurants as Chart House, Zuni Cafe, Dunkin' Donuts and, for you fans and friends of NOLA, Brennan's. There's even a few from Starbucks, like today's offering that combines two things I love: Chocolate-Espresso Pudding. It's so easy (thanks to Mr. Douglas) that even I can do it:

2 cups nonfat soy milk
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup chopped bittersweet chocolat
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine the soy milk and the brown sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat; stir until sugar dissolves. Whisk in cocoa powder, cornstarch, espresso powder and salt. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to low. Simmer for about a minute, until the mixture becomes thick.

Remove from the heat and stir in chopped chocolate and vanilla extract. Pour equal amounts of the pudding into four dessert bowls. Put a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding to keep it from forming a "skin."

Refrigerate for at least four hours. Remove plastic wrap and serve.

Mr. Douglas notes that you needn't be slavish to the espresso; any instant coffee you have on hand will work. If you'd like to browse through more of Mr. Douglas' recipes, find his work as ebooks here. Bon appetite ~

Header: La Chocolatiere by Jean Etienne Liotard c 1744 via Old Paint

Lundi: Recipes

Happy Lundi Gras! Tomorrow, of course, is Mardi Gras - Fat Tuesday - one of the biggest holidays for anyone with ties to the Gulf Coast and especially for all of us Creoles. Eat, drink and be merry for Lent is just around the corner. And here's a recipe that lets you do all those things at once: bread pudding with whiskey sauce from Roy F. Guste, Jr's The 100 Greatest New Oleans Creole Recipes.

2 eggs
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup raisins
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
6 ounces stale french bread (about 1/2 of a 32 inch loaf)
1/3 cup bourbon whiskey

In a large mixing bowl mix the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla and raisins. Break the bread into small pieces and add to this mixture. Fold all together and let it soak for a few minutes. Butter a loaf pan or baking dish. Pour the entire mixture into the buttered pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

The whiskey sauce: melt the butter and sugar together in a saucepan. Turn the heat off and add the bourbon. Mix thoroughly.

To serve, spoon the warm bread pudding onto plates and drizzle some of the whiskey sauce over the top.

Note that Monsieur Guste adds that any fruit of your choice can be added to the bread pudding before baking. I think "craisins" - those dried cranberries - are a nice substitute for raisins, of which I am not a fan. Be creative, have fun and bon appetite ~

Header: They Are Only Collecting the Usual Fans and Gloves by Charles Dana Gibson via American Gallery

Lundi: Recipes

Watching that horribly boring Super Bowl yesterday - no, it was never a "nail-biter"; I'm sorry but Kapernick is not a Super Bowl winning quarterback - I just focused on the New Orleans story line. It was so much fun to see so much of home, even if it was only on the TV. And when the lights went out, I laughed myself just about sick; the revenge of Saints fans everywhere.

Anyway, how could one not think about food when one is thinking about New Orleans? From beignets to etouffee, there is no better place to eat in the world. And speaking of etoufee, here is a delicious recipe from that master of old time Creole cooking, Leon E. Soniat, Jr.* This one comes with a little hint about chopping onions. If you want to avoid that horrible sting in your eyes, always use your sharpest knife and chill the onion in the frig for a bit before you chop it. This trick really does work; try it next time.

3 pounds raw shrimp, peeled, washed and deveined
1 pound crab meat
1 stick butter
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1/2 bell pepper, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
3 tablespoons minced parsley
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco or to taste
Cooked rice

Heat the butter and oil in a large, heavy pot such as a Dutch oven. Add onions, bell pepper and celery. Saute for five minutes and remove from heat. Add the garlic.

To one cup of stock add the cornstarch. Mix well and then add the mixture to the pot. Now you may need a little help. While stirring the pot continuously, add the wine, tomato paste, green onions, parsley and Worcestershire sauce. Add the shrimp, cover the pot partially and simmer ten minutes. Stir once or twice while it cooks. At about five minutes, stir in the other cup of stock and add some salt, pepper and Tabasco. Simmer another ten minutes while continuing to stir occasionally. Now add the crab meat and simmer another five to ten minutes to cook it through.

Serve over fluffy rice with some good bread to sop up whatever is left at the bottom of you bowl. Bon appetite ~

* recipe from La Bouche Creole II by Leon E. Soniat Jr. and June Soniat from Pelican Publishing c 1985

Header: Watching the Pot by Carl Emil Mucke via Old Paint

Lundi: Recipes

Over Yuletide I had the great good fortune to receive a time machine in book form. The door stop of a book, entitled The White House Cookbook, was originally published in 1887. The authors, Hugo Ziemann and Mrs. F. L. Gillette, both cooked at the White House and the book is full to bursting with curious recipes written in old-timey paragraph form with rarely a measure in sight.

One thing that did catch my eye right away was the recipes - there are twelve of them - for catsup (or ketchup if you're my husband.) Catsup was and is a curiously American condiment that was originally made by ladies at home. It was a wonderful way to store and use tomatoes but the cookbook includes recipes for such curious variations as oyster and gooseberry. One wonders how those might turn out. I'll focus, though, on the traditional recipe for tomato catsup which, in all fairness, may be a timely thing to have handy given that Super Bowl is coming up this Sunday. Here is Mrs. Gillette's homey recipe:

Put into two quarts of tomato pulp (or two cans of canned tomatoes) one onion, cut fine, two tablespoonfuls of salt and tree tablespoonfuls of brown sugar. Boil until quite thick; then take from the fire and strain it through a sieve, working it until it is all through but the seeds. Put it back on the stove, and add tow tablespoonfuls of mustard, one of allspice, one of black pepper and one of cinnamon, one teaspoonful of ground cloves, half a teaspoonful of cayenne pepper, one grated nutmeg, one pint of good vinegar; boil it until it will just run from the mouth of a bottle. It should be watched, stirred often, that it does not burn. If sealed tight while hot, in large-mouthed bottles, it will keep good for years.

Now doesn't that sound delicious? It would certainly be more flavorful than the stuff one gets in squeeze bottles at the modern market. But it is a deal of work and surely not a task for a hot day. Since it is 0 degrees on my front porch, perhaps I should foray into catsup making this afternoon.

More from The White House Cookbook another time. Until then, you can find it online here.

Header: Family dining room at the White House c 1900 via The White House Museum website

Lundi: Recipes

It's Christmas Eve and at my house that means liquor in your coffee. How often do you really get to indulge in drink at 10:00 AM? Not often enough. Here's one of my favorite coffee and brandy combos that can be de-coffeed and brandied for the kids (adding a little hot chocolate is a perfect way to perk up the wee ones - who are probably already so geeked that a little extra sugar will hardly be noticed).

2 tbsp honey
1 cup milk
1 tsp cinnamon
3 whole cloves
1 cup coffee
1 ounce good brandy (or any liquor you desire)

Place one tablespoon of honey in each of two serving mugs; set aside.

In a medium pan over medium heat, warm milk just until it begins to steam. You can do this in your microwave if you're so inclined but the saucepan routine makes the whole process more homey and old-fashioned, I think.

Remove from heat and add cinnamon and cloves. Let steep, covered, for 15 minutes. Return pan to heat and bring just to a boil. Remove from heat again.

You need to fish out those cloves and then transfer the milk to the prepared cups. Add coffee and brandy to milk, stir and enjoy! A little whipped cream is nice on top, perhaps with a little candy cane to stir up that confection.

For the kids, replace coffee and brandy with a little hot chocolate. Yum!

Happiest of Holidays to you all. May your spirits be light and your home full of joy this Yuletide.

Header: Santa's Coffee Break via Mid-Century

Lundi: Recipes

My kids hate my mashed potatoes. There; I said it. I usually ask my mother-in-law to bring hers for the holiday feast but this year I want to do it myself. Things are a little different these days.

I know who to go to for help, though, and I'm planning on making a big batch based solely on the recipe of - you guessed it - Martha Stewart. I love Martha so don't start. That woman can cook.

So here's my version of Martha's recipe from The Martha Stewart Living Christmas Cookbook published in 2003 with some notations. Join me in cooking mashed potatoes, won't you?

2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes (according to Martha they make creamier mashed potatoes; russets, she says, are "fluffy but grainy")
1 cup milk or cream (go with cream for the holidays, right?)
4 tbsp unsalted butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Peel potatoes and cut into 1 1/2 inch thick slices. Place slices in a medium saucepan; cover with cold water by 2 inches and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer an cook potatoes about 10 minutes or until fork tender. Drain potatoes and return them to the pot. Place over very low heat to dry; about a minute or two.

Heat milk/cream in a saucepan over medium heat "just until steaming."

Now, Martha says to place a heatproof bowl over simmering water and then put your potatoes through a ricer into that bowl. Sorry, Martha. I plan to use a nice potato masher and the pot the potatoes cooked in. But hey, if you're into making a ban Marie and you have a ricer to hand, good on you.

Stir potatoes until smooth; Martha suggests using a wooden spoon. Now, using a whisk, incorporate butter. Continue whisking as you drizzle in the hot milk/cream. Season to taste - Martha adds a dash of nutmeg as well as salt and pepper - and "whisk to combine."

Martha says: "Serve immediately." If I know good mashed potatoes, though, I bet these will warm up as leftovers nicely.

Thanks, Martha; I can always count on you. Bon appetite ~

Header: Kitchen Maid by William M. Paxton via American Gallery

Lundi: Recipes

Cherries and pears are a traditional combination of fruits for the holidays. This recipe utilizes that to make a delicious pear and cherry pie that is a nice change from pumpkin or minced.

1 1/2 cups dried sour cherries
About 6 or 7 ripe but firm pears
Juice of two lemons (1/4 cup)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
Package of two 12 to 13 inch prepared pie crusts
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp unsalted butter cut into small pieces
1 large egg whisked with milk for an egg wash

In a small bowl, soak cherries in hot water just to cover until soft, about 20 minutes.

Peel, core, and thinly slice pears. Stir the slices in a bowl with the lemon juice. Now drain the cherries and add to the pears. Add sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir to combine.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Fit one of the two prepared pie crusts into a 9 inch pie pan and fill with the pear and cherry mixture. Dot the mixture with butter. Now place the second pie crust over the pear mixture and slice six or nine vents in it. Crimp the edges to seal the two pie crusts together. Brush dough with egg wash.

Put the pie on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 350 and continue baking for another 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown and juice is bubbling through vents.

Cool pie on a wire rack. Serve a la mode (this is great with cinnamon ice cream) or with whipped cream. Bon appetite ~

Header: Painting by Joseph Caraud c 1875 via Old Paint

Lundi: Recipes

Up in my neck of the woods, where salmon is king (you might be from the Pacific Northwest if you get that lame joke), it is not uncommon for fishermen to stow the biggest salmon they catch in their freezer whole. There it will wait, lovingly wrapped to guard against freezer burn after been split and gutted, to await just this time of year. Some families serve this delight one night during Chanukah or as Christmas dinner. It is a real treat. If you happen to have access to a whole salmon, I have a wonderful recipe for grilled salmon with Pinot Blanc sauce.

1 whole salmon, 4 to 6 pounds, gutted, rinsed and dried (I like to remove the head and tail for aesthetic purposes but, if you like your food staring at you, who am I to argue?)
1 6 ounce jar nonpareil capers, drained
6 green onions, cut in half lengthwise
1 lemon, thinly sliced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Season the inside of your fish with salt and pepper. Place capers, green onions, lemon and onion slices along the inside of the fish and tie it up with three or four lengths of twine. Score the thickest parts of the salmon with a knife to ensure even cooking. Drizzle the salmon skin with olive oil to prevent sticking.

Warm grill to 325. Pop in the salmon and, with lid vents open, grill on one side about 20 minutes or until skin is crisp and brown. Now turn the salmon and continue to cook for another 15 to 20 minutes. Fish should reach an internal temperature of 130. Remove from heat and let rest for carry-over cooking, about another 15 minutes. Meanwhile...

For the sauce:

1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon red chili flakes
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups Pinot Blanc (my favorite: Michel-Schlumberger)
Juice of one lemon
1/2 cup butter, cubed
Salt and pepper to taste

Saute chili flakes and garlic in olive oil until soft (not brown). Add Pinot Blanc and lemon juice. Let this simmer to reduce by about half. Add butter one cube at a time to tighten up the sauce.

Cut up your fish and serve skin side down. Drizzle a little sauce over each slice just before serving.

This is great with a nice green salad, rice or garlic mashed potatoes and - of course - a bottle of Pinot Blanc. Bon appetite ~

Header: Still Life with Two Glasses of Wine by Albert Anker via Old Paint

Lundi: Recipes

Thanksgiving is only three days away and, while I could certainly put up a recipe that I like for the Holidays I would be remiss if I tried to do better than the master.

Here then, a little twist for today's recipe post. Click over to Alton Brown's Thanksgiving Recipe Primer and find a recipe for absolutely anything you can imagine putting on a holiday table. Keep this one for Hanukkah/Yule/Christmas/Kwanza et al because there are some seriously delicious offerings at this site.

I know I'm adding the deviled eggs and the Parker House rolls to my Solstice table.

Bon Appetite ~

Header: A charming, Scandinavian inspired Christmas card c 1947 via Mid-Century

Lundi: Recipes

Hey, Thanksgiving is just around the corner here in the U.S. and that means piles and piles of flippin' food. Cook, damn you!

It also means no pie on my table. I can bake a cake like nobody's business but I just can't seem to master pie. So what the heck; instead of pumpkin pie, here are some awesomely easy to make cinnamon pumpkin cupcakes that can also be dressed up to look like pumpkins.

1 18.25 ounce package yellow cake mix
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Your favorite vanilla frosting & orange food coloring

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare a muffin/cupcake tin with liners (preferably ones with a holiday theme).

In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients for the cupcakes and mix well, either by hand or with an electric mixer, until most of the lumps are gone. Now spoon batter into the cupcake liners until each is about two-thirds of the way full. Bake on center rack about 12 to 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

Remove pan(s) from your oven and place on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Now pull your cupcakes out of the pan and let them cool completely on the wire rack. If you're like me and you only have one muffin tin, you'll need to repeat the baking process a time or two.

When your cupcakes have cooled, combine just enough orange food coloring to your frosting to achieve a nice pumpkin-y color. Then frost them up and let the kids lick the bowl. If you're channeling Martha Stewart, consider placing a green gummy candy or a little chocolate morsel on the top to represent the stems. These can also be made for Halloween using licorice to make Jack-o-lantern faces.

Of course, for me at least, all of this is hypothetical. We're going over the river and through the woods to my mother-in-law's house for Thanksgiving. Which means there will be pie; oh yes, there will be pie. But then, there's always Christmas... Bon appetite ~

Header: Woman and Child Pouring Milk by Anne Kerr Hirschberg via American Gallery

Lundi: Recipes

I can't speak for everyone but it seems to me that Hallowe'en is upon us all of a sudden. I've had the decorations up since September and we carved pumpkins weeks ago but I'm still a little surprised that Wednesday is the big day.

In preparation for all that entertaining you'll be doing, here's my favorite punch recipe which is turned into "Ghoul-Aide" by a suggestion from Terry Krocker in A Taste of Home's Halloween Food & Fun booklet from 2011. Add "eyes" to the punch and watch those faces light up. These portions make between ten and fifteen glasses of punch.

The Punch

1 16 ounce can frozen Pink Lemonade
Red food coloring
48 ounces chilled lemon-lime soda (or as much liquid as is recommended on the lemonade can)

The Eyes

1/2 cup fresh or frozen (unsweetened) blueberries
1 15 ounce can lychees, well drained

In a pitcher or punch bowl (approximately three quart capacity), mix the thawed pink lemonade with enough red food coloring to make it look like blood. Set aside.

Insert one blueberry into the center of each lychee. Place these in a single layer on a plate or baking sheet and freeze for up to two hours.

When guests arrive, add the lemon-lime soda to the pink lemonade mix. Serve in individual glasses with an "eye" floating in each one. The white, slightly slimy lychees absorb some of the red food coloring for a particularly realistic look.

Having a "grown up" Hallowe'en? Add a few shots of vodka to this recipe or replace the soda with sparkling wine. Yum! Bon appetite ~

Header: My daughter and her best friend ready for a Hallowe'en party (my daughter is dressed as Michone from The Walking Dead)

Lundi: Recipes

I love rum. Admittedly, I don't drink it all that often; I'm basically a wino. But it's great to cook with and lends itself particularly well to sweets.

Today's recipe is from the Times~Picayune and the entry in their book Cooking Up A Storm begins:

New Orleanians have a long history with rum, which was the base of many early drinks, so it's not surprising that this cake is a favorite of our readers. We received many requests for it and had several recipes in our archives. Here is one that Y.G. of Kenner sent in 1997.

And so, Y.G.'s recipe for Classic Bacardi Rum Cake:

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 (18.25 ounce) box yellow cake mix
1 (3.25 ounce) package vanilla instant pudding
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup dark rum (80 proof), such as Bacardi

Glaze:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark rum as above

Cake ~ Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan or a 12 cup Bundt pan.  Sprinkle the chopped nuts over the bottom of the pan.

In a large mixing bowl, mix all the remaining ingredients together, then pour the batter into the pan. Bake 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The cake should pull away from the sides of the pan a bit when it's done.

Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes and the turn it out onto a rack to finish cooling.

Glaze ~ While the cake is cooling, melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in the water and sugar. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly so the mixture doesn't scald or stick. Remove from heat (turn off your gas burner!) and add the rum. Stir to combine.

When the cake is thoroughly cool, prick the tip with a fork or toothpick. Drizzle the glaze over the top and let it sit a half an hour or so to allow the glaze to seep into the cake.

This cake will produce eight to ten servings. Bon appetite (and cheers!)

Header: Cakes and Wine by Thomas Waterman Wood via American Gallery

Lundi: Recipes

It surely is that time of year and, because I made them yesterday after carving pumpkins on Saturday, I'm rerunning my all time favorite recipe for roasted pumpkin seeds. Yum!

This one comes from Silver RavenWolf's book Halloween which (witch?) is full of recipes, crafts and workings to fit the season. As I've noted before, the real secret to these gems is a quick dunk in boiling water before the seeds are roasted. Cooked with intention, the seeds are a great way to feed you family, body and soul.

Seeds from one large or two small pumpkins
1/4 cup (or to taste) sea or kosher salt (for protection)
2 tbsps olive oil (for health)
2 tbsps dried, crushed rosemary leaves (for prosperity)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Rinse the pumpkin seeds and boil in water until they turn grayish and begin to sink to the bottom of the pot.

Meanwhile, line a baking sheet with foil. In a bowl, combine the salt, oil and rosemary.

When the seeds are ready, drain them in a colander and pat dry. Put them in the bowl with the other ingredients and mix well to coat the seeds. Pour them onto the baking sheet and spread evenly in a single layer.

Pop the baking sheet in the oven and bake until golden brown. I like mine dark and crunchy so I generally bake them about 30 minutes. It all depends on your oven and your taste. Bon appetite ~

Header: Casper comic book cover via the now - unfortunately - defunct Tumblr Uncle Strangely's Dark Mansion of Big Crap Scares; I love this cover as the witch in red reminds me a little of the awesome Sharon Needles

Lundi: Recipes

I've featured recipes by the incomparable Leon E. Soniat, Jr. here at HQ before. I like to mess around with recipes, too, and fit an existing recipe to the taste of those I cook for. Chef Soniat's Creole style recipes are a great base to take off from and today's omelet recipe is a good example.

The original appeared in La Bouche Creole II as the Potato-Onion Supper Omelet. My kids aren't big on onions but they do like potatoes and are very fond of rosemary potatoes. Voila! Soniat's supper omelet went from Potato-Onion to Potato-Rosemary just like that.  I don't much trouble to make it an omelet either (no folding over, etc.) Here's the recipe; enough for four hungry people.

6 to 8 tbsps olive oil
2 potatoes, washed and cubed (you can peel the potato if your family prefers, by all means)
2 tbsps butter
8 eggs, lightly beaten (add a little milk if this is how you usually scramble eggs)
1 to 2 tsps dry rosemary or a few sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves peeled off the stalk and coarsely chopped
Salt
Black pepper
Tabasco

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the potatoes and cook them over medium heat until golden brown and crisp, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the potatoes to a paper towel to drain.

Pour off a bit of the oil, leaving about 2 tablespoons, and add the butter. When it foams, return the potatoes to the skillet and add the eggs and rosemary. Stir in the salt and pepper to taste and a few dashes of Tabasco. Continue to stir for a minute or two more then - and this is the hardest part - leave the omelet alone. Let it cook for another one or two minutes, or until the eggs are done to your liking.

Serve immediately with some warm rolls or a fresh baguette. This is a delightful winter meal and can be tweaked with any herb that particularly appeals to you and yours. Bon appetite ~

Header: Egg by Edward B. Lintott via Old Paint

Lundi: Recipes

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a member of the Who Dat Nation. I saw my first Saints game when I was five and, though I went through a weird Seahawks thing in my youth (my family lived in Seattle when the team first appeared) I got over it. I rejoiced when the Saints won the Super Bowl and I am as low as any football fan can be now.

Even my daughter is a Saints fan. She knows the players, wears her Pierre Thomas jersey on game days and cried, down right bawled, yesterday at the end of that sad, sad loss to the Packers.

Thanks to Roger Goodell, my child understands that there ain't never gonna be nothing fair. And she's not the only one. I wouldn't want your karma even with your salary, sir.

Tears aside, I'm old enough to seek solace in an adult beverage. So here's a recipe for a delicious Bloody Mary straight out of another institution that is being "phased out" due to greed and ignorance: The Times-Picayune. Make two pitchers and have some friends over. Misery loves company.

4 cups tomato juice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp celery salt
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
10 to 12 drops of Tabasco sauce (more or less to taste)
2 tsps fresh lime juice
7 ounces vodka of choice
Lime wedges and celery stalks for garnish

Combine all ingredients but garnish in a glass pitcher and chill for at least an hour. Stir before serving. Pour into four ice-filled glasses and garnish as noted.

You might also like to add prepared horseradish for an extra kick.

Not feeling up to making your own - and who can blame you given the circumstances? I recommend Tabasco's own brand of Bloody Mary mix. It's delicious and a great pick me up without the vodka, too. Bon appetite ~

Header: Family: Because no matter what the outcome, we always love them via New Orleans Ladder

Lundi: Recipes

As of last Saturday it's officially fall in the Northern Hemisphere. Where I live, fall comes quite a while earlier than the equinox. In fact, it corresponds to the old Celtic harvest holiday known as Lughnashad or Lammas on the Catholic calendar. The leaves are turning by August 1 so we're hustling to get the bounty of our short summers put away and preserved.

One of the few fruits that we can still get fresh this time of year is berries. It's now that the raspberry brambles are heavy with fruit and the blueberries are as sumptuous as they will ever be. What better use for these good-for-you fruits - aside from jam of course - than a berry cake? Here's what you'll need:

1 cup each blueberries and raspberries (washed and patted dry)
1 21 oz can blueberry pie filling
2 cups self-rising flour
1 cup sugar
1 stick cool butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp lemon juice
Lemon zest for topping (optional)

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 13x9x2 inch loaf pan an line with parchment paper.

Mix the fresh berries together and set aside.

Mix the flour and sugar in a large bowl. Add the butter and mix with your fingers until crumbly, as you would with pie crust. Set aside 1/2 cup of this mixture, stir in lemon zest to taste if desired. This will be the topping for your cake.

To the rest of the flour and sugar mixture, add the milk, eggs and vanilla. Combine each ingredient with the flour and sugar before adding the next one. Add the berries and combine. Pour this batter into your prepared pan.

Combine the blueberry pie filling and the lemon juice and spread this mixture in a relatively even layer over the cake batter. Finish by sprinkling the reserved flour, sugar and lemon zest over all.

Bake about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for a few minutes, then turn the cake out on a rack to finish cooling. Cut and enjoy!

Berries really are a super-food full of anti-oxidants and excellent for all kinds of health issues. If you're so inclined, concentrate on healing and helping the immune systems of those who enjoy your berry cake while you bake. This is old fashioned "kitchen witch" magick. It's simple, easy and can be done any time you prepare food.

Last, remember to leave any berries not picked by Hallowe'en on the brambles. According to Irish legend, these berries are the rightful domain of those goblins known as pucas. They sustain themselves through the winter with these last fruits, and will become bitter and destructive if they must go hungry. No one wants to anger the pucas after all...

Header: Hazel Scott with the harvest preserves c 1940 via Mid-Century

Lundi: Recipes

I'm feeling really good today, despite some family issues that have nothing to do with cancer, so I thought I would hunt around for a fabulous recipe to share. I found one, tucked in the back of one of my cookbooks, and then had the good luck to find an illustrated article about the recipe online at KCET.org. I think it's a sign. So here it is, a dessert right out of Golden Age Hollywood history: The Brown Derby's Grapefruit Cake. I know it sounds a little crazy but trust me it is a real treat!

For the cake:

1 1/2 cups cake flour
3/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs, separated
3 tbsps grapefruit juice
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

For the frosting:

2  6 ounce packages of cream cheese at room temperature
2 tsps lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon zest
3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1 1 lb can grapefruit sections or fresh grapefruit segments for garnish (optional)

To make the cake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour either one tall cake pan (two to four inch sides) or two regular cake pans (one inch sides). I like to put a parchment paper round in the bottom of the pans to make removing the cake even easier.

Sift the first four ingredients together into a large bowl. Add water, oil, egg yolks only, grapefruit juice and lemon zest. Mix until smooth.

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until eggs form very soft peaks. Add the rest of the mixed ingredients gently to egg whites and fold - don't beat. Pour this mixture into you pan(s).

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Turn pan(s) over on a rack to cool briefly, then gently remove cake, running a knife around the edge if necessary. Allow to cool thoroughly on rack.

To make the frosting, beat softened cream cheese in a medium bowl - by hand or with a mixer - until fluffy. Add lemon juice and lemon zest and combine. Stir in sugar in small batches until the mixture is smooth. Add grapefruit juice and stir to combine.

Cut a tall cake in half if necessary and spread frosting on one half. If you have grapefruit sections, place some in the frosting before topping it with the other half of the cake. Frost the entire cake completely and then artfully arrange the rest of the grapefruit wedges around the sides or in any way you please. Cut and enjoy!

This is a refreshing way to end any meal and it virtually melts in your mouth when eaten with a nice glass of sparkling wine (or two). Bon appetite ~

Header: High Society by H. Weston Taylor via American Gallery

Lundi: Recipes

Independence Day is soon to be upon us here in the U.S., and nothing says 4th of July to most of us quite like grilling.  Indoors or out, we Americans tend to be boucaniers at heart.  It happens to be salmon season as well here in my home state of Alaska and salmon on the barby is good and good for you.  Here's an easy recipe for barbequed salmon with a Dijon glaze that will definitely take your grilling in an upscale direction.

1 to 2 pounds of salmon fillets
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard (you can also use a good brown mustard, if you prefer)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh, chopped rosemary or thyme or both
Lemon slices
Salt and pepper to taste

Season the fish with salt and pepper. 

Combine mustard, oil and herbs and rub this mixture on your fish.  Rub both sides of the fillets if your salmon is skinless or just the skinless side if not.  Pop these in a zip~top bag and leave them in the frig for a couple of hours or even overnight.

Cook on your grill of choice until a skewer easily penetrates the thickest meat of the fillet; usually about 5 minutes per side.

Serve garnished with lemon and perhaps a sprig or two of whole herbs.

This is a great recipe for camping as you can prepare the fish ahead and pop it in your cooler in the zip~top bag.  Yum!  Bon appetite ~

Header: Painting by Frederick Cayley Robinson via Old Paint

Lundi: Recipes

Last week, the ubiquitous Times-Picayune laid off half their staff and announced that they would be publishing only three times per week.  This despite having the largest readership, judging by paid subscriptions, of an daily newspaper in the United States, including the New York Times.  The Times-Picayune has officially been in business for 175 years but, prior to being a Times subsidiary, was a local southeastern Louisiana paper dating back to the days of Jean and Pierre Laffite.  If that isn't a sad comment on the state of journalism in the modern U.S. I don't know what is.

In honor of the great Picayune whose name came from how much it once cost, a wonderful old Creole recipe which has been featured in the Times-Picayune on more than one occasion: spinach Madeleine.

This recipe was probably first published in the now famous River Road Recipes cookbook from the Junior League of Baton Rouge.  It's a casserole that many Louisianans wouldn't dream of leaving off the Thanksgiving or Reveillon sideboard and it has, these days, one curiously modern ingredient: Mexican Velveeta.

2 10 ounce packages of frozen, chopped spinach
4 tbsps butter
2 tbsps all purpose flour
2 tbsps finely chopped onions
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/2 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp celery salt
3/4 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp Worchestershire sauce
Salt
Cayenne pepper
6 ounces Velveeta Mexican Mild, cut into small pieces
Bread crumbs (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Coat a 9 inch square casserole dish with butter or non-stick spray.

Cook the spinach according to the package directions. Drain and reserve 1/2 cup of the liquid from the pot.

In a saucepan, melt the butter over low heat.  Add the flour, stirring to blend; continue to stir for about 1 minute, making a very light roux.  Add the onions and cook until soft, not brown.  Add the milk and reserved spinach liquid, stirring constantly to avoid lumps.  Cook until liquid thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon, about 10 minutes.  Add pepper, celery and garlic salts, Worchestershire sauce, salt and cayenne to taste.  Add the cheese and stir until it is melted completely.

Place cooked spinach in an even layer in the prepared casserole dish.  Pour the cheese sauce over the spinach and top with bread crumbs if you like.  Bake until golden and bubbly, about 30 minutes, and serve warm.

This recipe has another little connection to old New Orleans and Jean Laffite, at least to my mind.  One of the ladies he was linked with at times was named Madeleine Rigaud.  That's all we know of her, just her name and her connection to Laffite the pirate.  You can make up the rest over the spinach dish that shares her name.

Header: Andrew "Action" Jackson salutes the Times-Picayune