Roger's View of the World, Love and Seafood Gumbo!
Seize the Day! Put no trust in the morrow! — Horace
One . of my favorite desserts is cherry pie and throw on some whipped cream and you have a very simple and nice dessert. Cherry pies have their roots back to colonial times and the best recipes haven’t changed much from then. Call me crazy but whether apple or cherry , I like my fruit sautéed first.
I am sure that the words ‘trifle’, ‘flummery’ and ‘whipped syllabubs’ pass smoothly from your lips… but do you know what they are? These can be found in a wonderful new book entitled the ‘City Tavern cookbook’ that recreates many of the standard dishes found in colonial America. What is surprising is not the fusion of French, German and English cooking, but the variety of spices that might be unexpected in this time and place, such as ‘curry.’ ( check out page 179 for a ‘West Indies Curried lamb that is as extraordinary as it is tempting)
Much wisdom can be found in this cookbook, here is a quote from President John Adams on the after effects of an imported table wine:
“I drank Madeira at a great rate and found no inconvenience in it!”
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Madison and Adams were all fond of apples and cherries and their recipes and those of others close to them are very intriguing. The recipe for a ‘buttered apple pie’ ) not included in this wonderful book is similar to my own… the apples are sliced and pre-baked.
What better way to celebrate NATIONAL PIE DAY than to recreate one of these wonderful pies. I have known Laura for over 40 years and until today did not know that she loved cherry pie… all these years I would enjoy them alone thinking she preferred an alternative which was also prepared. Tomorrow I will make Laura a cherry pie.
I will say that the bread pudding recipe was a bit boring but the anise biscotti sounded delicious!
Happy National Pie Day 23rd November 2010!
Roger Freberg
PS. CLICK here or on the picture of the pies for my recipe page
California rains are a bit different than I have experienced in the north and in the south. When rain comes here, it never rains very hard by comparison but it will last for a week or so. What we really want to have in our three growing seasons is an ‘intermittent rain’. Rain followed by sunshine then rain and more sunshine works well for California’s crops… even those grown in our national forests. 😉
There is a quiet beauty on a California rainy day.
Roger
3 years ago, our family started on a unique journey, we joined Jenny Craig. Today, one of our local television stations — KSBY — caught up with us to interview folks about their new year’s resolutions. Between us we lost a rather large football player. Although this holiday season I jumped up a little bit in weight, I am still a shadow of where I started… and a long way from the original 427 when I was lifting. Of course, Jenny will help me take off this year’s holiday indulgence.
Laura talked about how much fun it was to wear a size 4 rather than a 16 and Karen likes to be mistaken for a basketball or volleyball player rather than the All-American and Southern Cal record holder in the women’s shot put. Kristin likes the fact that Jenny helps keep her weight under control to meet or exceed army standards. I like the fact that my ‘fat pants’ are size 36 rather than 46.
Once we reach our goal weight and find a comfortable range to stay in, then ‘maintenance ‘ isn’t much of a problem and Jenny helps with that as well. Jenny isn’t as much a resolution as accepting a more healthy lifestyle… and we enjoy our indulgences so much more!
Roger
I am always amused at how simple recipes often intimidate… when there really is no reason.
Baked Alaska is a simple cake and ice cream dish with a flare for meringue and sometimes a little showmanship of lighted dark rum! If you look closely in the top right part of the above photo collage, you will see the flames rising from dark rum splashed on top of the meringue.
The brownie cake base was a simple one and I am sure your own nutty and heavily chocolaty version would probably work well. I prefer using a heavy cake as it needs to support the weight of a couple of quarts of ice cream. I used three mixed flavors of ice cream pressed together in a Neapolitan style. The superior meringue was the traditional one we use in all our pies.
In case you were wondering… it was delicious!
Roger