Category: Baking

Baking

Clara’s Cashew Cookies

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The recipe card reads Cashew Cookies but I always add the extra nomenclature in honor of the gracious hostess and great baker who, years ago, sent me on the road with a fresh batch of these sweet treats.  I don’t usually make them.  My cookie baking tends towards the quick, crunchy kind without the extra step of frosting.  Plus, this frosting calls for browned butter requiring extra vigilance since butter can go from nutty caramel to burnt in just those few seconds when you look away from the stove.

And, of course, there is a story with this recipe — In 1978, I had been invited to teach a summer storytelling class at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse.  At the time, I was working as a school librarian and going to Library School at UW-Madison.  The chance to teach at the academic level, even if only for a week, would have been a great additional to my resume.  However, I was seriously considering declining the offer simply due to the math.  Even though I would be totally responsible for developing the curriculum, teaching unsupervised and managing all the required paperwork I would only receive an un-degreed TA (teaching assistant) stipend.  By the time I covered a week’s expenses – motel, meals, gas and maybe a glass of wine or two – I would be paying the university for the experience.  Then a friend connected me with a retired parish housekeeper who loved to host short term guests.  It was like a private B&B as Clara baked fresh pastries each morning and when I left at the end of the week she gave me a “care package” for the long (90 mile) journey from LaCrosse to Eau Claire.

And yes, those with a discerning eye will note it is a pistachio and not a cashew atop each cookie as I claim a baker’s prerogative to modify the recipe so these are made with chopped pistachios.

Baking

In the bleak midwinter … solstice sweets

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Each year we celebrate the Solstice, acknowledging the shortest day, celebrating a holy darkness, and enjoying a special meal.  In a year where nothing was as it was supposed to be, it felt even more important last night to gather fresh evergreens, bake a sweet treat and claim tradition.  

Needing a recipe that did not require an extra trip to the store since we had already picked up our drive-through, online order, I landed on Easy French Almond Cake from the café sucre farine.  Just as promised in the intro, “Incredibly delicious cake and it’s incredibly easy!”  I did modify it slightly (a baker’s prerogative) as I replaced the orange glaze and sliced almonds garnish with Cafe Delites’s homemade blueberry sauce.  Bon appétit!

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.
     Christina Rossetti, 1830-1894

Baking

Happy Birthday!

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This was a kitchen day from mid-morning to mid-afternoon while prepping Richard’s simple birthday celebration requests.

Chocolate Amaretto Cheesecake – Modified from one large springform pan to four small 5-inch silicone & glass bottom pans since there are just the two of us celebrating together in these Covid days.  The topping is still to be determined.  Do I go with simple fresh whipped cream, the recipe prescribed Amaretto flavored whipped cream, or a decadent chocolate glaze for a chocolate-on-chocolate birthday treat?  (Decisions.  Decisions.)

Barbecued short ribs – In the slow cooker after modifying Mom’s c. 1940 rib recipe from the Good Housekeeping cookbook she received as a 1945 wedding present.

All to be toasted with Glenlivet 15 Year Old French Oak Reserve, his early morning present.  Additional packages mailed to Eau Claire to ensure secrecy will have to wait as we opt back into semi-self-quarantine with Minnesota and Wisconsin experiencing pandemic spikes.

Happy 74th Birthday, Richard!

Baking · Gardening

Last of the season

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The old wives’ tale declared rhubarb poison after the 4th of July although how a vegetable could or would negatively alter its chemical structure to coincide with a US holiday is a horticultural mystery.  In reality and referencing a much more reliable source, the University of Minnesota Agricultural Service, it is best to harvest this vegetable from early spring through the end of June allowing the remainder of the summer growing season to replenish the energy needed to winter over in our harsh northern clime.  So while Mom’s rhubarb patch is still tempting me with its verdant leaves, it is best left to rest.  Making this my last Rhubarb Crisp of the season. 

There are as many rhubarb crisp recipes as there are bakers.  This one is tried and true from Mom.  The combination of ingredients and ease makes it Richard’s and my favorite summer dessert especially with a dollop of freshly made Crème Fraîche. 

Always on the lookout for new rhubarb adventures, there have been summers when I have experimented with rhubarb’s versatility – drinking rhubarb daiquiris or grilling with rhubarb barbeque sauce.  May be it is Covid related but for this summer’s baking treats I focused entirely on old favorites:  breads, crisps, muffins, and scones.

While my trusted Joy of Cooking, © 1975, only provides seven recipes, Rhubarb Recipes by complied by Jeanne DeMars, © 1991, and Rhubarb Renaissance by Kim Ode published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press, © 2012, as part of Our Northern Plate Series each offer hundreds of baking and cooking options.

Whether you have this wonderful plant growing in your yard or you purchase stalks at your local farmers’ market, explore all the delicious treats rhubarb offers but wait until next summer.

Baking · Gardening

Blueberries – first to last

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When we started harvesting blueberries last month, we doubted we would meet the bountiful 24 cups we picked last summer.  But the wonders of the Great Mother never cease to amaze and we have enjoyed 25 cups from our four small bushes.  So delicious have been the muffins, ice cream glazes, and pies (two lemon sour cream and one traditional) with plenty simply nibbled that none were frozen.  While we may regret our greediness in the depth of winter blues, the fresh berries were just too tempting.  Since today’s last picking only yielded enough (0.5 cup) for tomorrow’s Honey Nut Cheerios breakfast, I am repurposing the photo from our first picking.