Lifting a stanza from Plum's Christmas poem -
I am from cold winter
Skiing and Sledding
Ice skating and Snow forts
I am from warm cups of hot chocolate
From coffee-cake on Christmas morning
The crystallized sugar at the bottom of the pan
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Soft Salted Pretzel
My girls make these pretzels to sell at the West Cornwall, CT farmer’s market all summer long. In general - Sophie rules the kitchen and Plum mans the till. The dough needs to be refrigerated overnight and then come to room temperature before it is ready to be rolled, shaped, boiled, oiled, salted and baked - making for an industrious Saturday morning. Bread, pastry, whole wheat and barley flour has been substituted, in a pinch, for the customary all-purpose white. Weather effects the end product. Humidity causes the dough to disconcertingly bloat rather than rise. A cold snap makes the whole process pretty miserable. None of this matters. The pretzels are always delicious and sold out by noon.
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Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
I should have known that when Plum said she wanted to make a cake that she wanted to make a cake. I should have known that my darling daughter would not be cajoled into something less than she imagined - swirls, layers and ceremony. And so when the recipe I selected, dismissively, revealed itself to be for humble cookie dough rather than for silky cake batter, I was in trouble. At the very least I needed to covert the contents of my mixing bowl into something that could be poured into two round cake pans. To my delight (and considerable relief) the result was miraculous. In fact, I would call the alterations downright ingenious - if only I was not to blame for cookie/cake debacle in the first place. I now make this dense rich buttery cake for almost every family celebration and tailor the flavor, frosting, and filling according to the whims of the recipient.
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Projet: Salt Cod and Potato Pie
I served a version of this recipe at my husband’s 50th birthday dinner extravaganza. The menu was essentially a study of his favorite foods - mostly Spanish. Somehow the pie went missing. Caspar claims he never got a bite or even knew it existed. And so I made it again - and again. The dish makes for some fine leftovers however it is also remarkably easy to eat more than one helping so pick your poison. I like it best with a green salad and glass of rose.
Read MoreSesame Bars a la Union Square
Sesame bars, very similar to these, are available at the Union Square farmer’s market. I use to purchase them every once in awhile. Lately, however, I have been wanting the bars with regularity - an expensive habit. To make matters worse - my children are equally enamored. I hate to deny them such a healthful treat and so resolved to make them myself. After some experimentation, I have discovered that the binder/filler ratio is much more important than an exacting recipe. Take advantage of the opportunity to finish off half eaten containers of nuts, dried berries and seeds.
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Asian Chicken Soup
My daughter Sophie complained the other day that I had served her this soup just last week. Nervy but correct! I make this recipe, or some variant of, all the time because it is everything you want/need a soup to be - economical, plentiful, and delicious. The soup lends itself to entertaining, yields fabulous leftovers - which can even be transformed into a hearty salad or school lunch. I have never tried frying up the remaining rice with a bit of soy and veg but reckon that would be good too.
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