The Sisterhood goes to the Lake.

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It’s hard to believe that just a week ago we were at the lake, gazing at the full moon to our hearts content.

Having piles of ‘cousins’

and more piles of ‘cousins’

and sunset cruises with fancy cheese & crackers & sausage and the occasional  Barbie doll.

The week our friend Will was offered his Granny’s cabin at the lake this year was the week that happened to have the Fourth of July in the middle of it.   Will and Mollie were kind enough to extend the invitation to us as well as a few other friends.  Granny’s cabin was a full house at the lake on the Fourth of July.

I brought my home made Fourth of July flair, remnants of an old dress I had made myself in college for the Fourth.  I realized the dress didn’t quite fit the way it used to, but I still wanted it around, so voila, I just made it into a banner to hang on the front porch on Patriotic holidays. 
The fabric reminded me of the old tv show, Love American Style. I vaguely remember watching that show with my parents, but I do remember it. Does that make me of a certain vintage? I think it does.

We hung it from the canopy on the pontoon boat, so we’d have holiday flair.  We also had a smaller flag off the bow and a large flag on a pole towards the rear of the boat.  With the exception of the boat that had red, white & blue bunting in light form, we definitely had one of the most decorated boats on the Lake. 
We had flair, oh yes we did.
Edie got to try her hand for a few moments at the wheel one evening when the lake was quiet.
She did a great job and was pretty proud of herself.

Abigail and Teal came down, as did Booty and Elizabeth.  We had met Elizabeth previously and I realized I knew her from around town, so it was good to spend some real time with her, since you know, Booty is part of the extended bromance. 
You know how sometimes you see a couple and you can just see that they just fit together?  Booty and Elizabeth are like that.  To see that she totally just gets him was even better.  And she showed up with cake.

She had me at cake.
The fireworks over the water were beautiful.  They were set off at a point just on the other side of the little cove the cabin is tucked away in, so we only had to go out about 50 feet or so in the boat to see them.  We didn’t have to enter the lake at all to see them, we just stayed in the cove.  
It was one of those old fashioned good times where the kids get up, put on bathing suits (or not) and swim before breakfast, the boys got lots of fishing done and the sisterhood cooked up some fabulous meals.
Thanks Will & Mollie for having us all out.  And thanks to Granny for letting us stay at the cabin.

Checking in.

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We lost internet for a few days after that derecho came through here last week.   Surprisingly enough, our neighborhood fared really well in that – no huge trees down, no crushed houses, and power was back on Saturday morning at 7 am.  I’m convinced it’s from the karma we’ve built up over the years of ALWAYS being the last neighborhood to get power, always being the worst hit neighborhood in the entire area, time after time after time.   Most of us walked around all weekend pinching ourselves wondering how the heck we got off so lucky this time. 
Spending a few days offline pre-mini-vacation was a good way to get prepped for a few more days offline while we hit the lake with friends for the Fourth of July.  It was a great trip, always a good time with the Smileys.  I have a few hundred photos to sort through and post, but as we are only home for a few short hours before hitting the road again, it will have to wait until next week. 
Waiting for me when we got in this afternoon were a few packages, much to the dismay of Edie.  Thanks Lesa for the book, I am looking forward to reading it.  I also got my new copy of “Joy of Pickling” so I can return Melissa’s.  And, excitement upon excitement, I got an advance copy of a dear childhood friend’s first novel to be published in October, which I am about to go sit down with inbetween laundry cycles and repacking the car.  You will definitely be hearing more about that in the coming months.
I finally can shout from the rooftops about the little project I spent most of June working on.  The Hook’s Restaurant Week Special Section is on local newstands as of today. I did some Q&A’s with local chefs, collected some recipes, wrote an article to go along with it and even snapped some photos along the way.   Pretty darn tooting exciting.  I wanted to keep pretty mum about it until it was all said and done and in my hot little hands.  When I went to their office last week to proof read a draft, I was ecstatic when I saw they had used some of my photos too.  I definitely think it might be time to upgrade from my point and shoot to a real camera. 
Oh, and those pickled peaches I made last week?  They are good.  A little sweet, a little sour, a little spicy from the ginger and cinnamon.  I will be making more.  Edie thinks a pickled peach pie is something we are definitely are going to have to try and I think she’s onto something…..

Along the way.

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I have lined up another canning class to teach this summer – a pickling class in August for Market Central.  In talking it over with the folks there, we thought it might be fun to do different types of pickles, maybe even some fruit pickles.  Admittedly, I have wanted to try pickling some fruit.  If you have been reading this blog for some time, you might have noticed I tend to pickle pretty much everything in sight.  I am utterly fascinated by the process of pickling and I happen to have a husband who likes pickles, so it’s kinda win-win. I thought it would be best if I actually pickled some fruit before I marched into a class and taught it, so that you know, I might appear as if I know what I’m doing. 

So I called up my friend Melissa and borrowed her copy of “The Joy of Pickling” yet again, with an invitation to come help me figure out how to pickle peaches.

Melissa came over and held my hand on the watermelon rind pickles the first time I did them – I like having her come over and help me when I’m doing something new in the canning realm.  I’m so glad I had her over for the peach pickles, she definitely helped me get myself organized, get down to business and get the job done.   She made sure we followed the recipe exactly, even measuring out the peaches to the weight called for in the recipe.  She also tried to ensure we used the proper equipment, another thing I tend to overlook.

I have learned the hard way that when pickling, you really need to use ‘nonreactive’ pots.  Which means stainless steel. I might have a few hard anodized pots that are slightly scarred from pickling & jamming adventures.  I didn’t think I had any stainless steel pots left until I remembered a huge stock pot that seems to have found it’s way into the sandbox.  It didn’t start out as a sandbox toy, I think it was a piece of camping equipment that was stored in the basement and since the gang of girls that hang out around my house think that pretty much anything in basement is up for grabs, it somehow found it’s way into the sandbox.

I needed an extra large bowl, my big orange plastic one having gone missing (I seem to recall it being borrowed by a certain wee one that lives here for some sort of project.  I’ll have to check the tiki hut to see if it’s there as it’s not in the sandbox.  She’s lately started dragging things down into Brian & Betty’s yards, building forts there too.  It really could be anywhere on the block now that I think about it.  Hmm….)Thankfully, I was able to grab a punchbowl to use as a spare large bowl.  It’s good for your various collections to do double duty I think, and as they are large and glass, they are excellent for pickling.  I keep those out of reach of little hands, which is why they haven’t been moved into another location.

I also realized I have no empty half pint jelly jars on hand.  I have no idea what that’s about. I swore I had a case or two down there.  Thankfully, I did have a few empty cases of pint jars, so we used those.

This morning I felt the call of the thrifts, thinking I might find myself a new stainless steel pot.  The one I rescued from the sandbox holds about 20 gallons or so (okay, not really, but it’s the biggest pot in the house) and honestly, I have nowhere to store it upstairs, which is how it ended up in the basement and then the sandbox. So off I went.

I totally scored today.  I found a new springform pan to replace mine, which has a dent in the bottom thanks to one of the neighborhood kids and their hijinks (it sounds as if my kitchen is regularly raided as a toy box, but really, it’s not.  The springform pan has been like that for a few years now.  I’m slow to replace things, can you tell?) as well as a preforated baguette pan and a Julia Child cookbook, Julia Child & Company, which was apparently the companion book to her show in the late 70’s.   Good scores, all of them.    But those were not my best scores. 

My best scores were a pair of Land’s End pink suede boots and a pair of red cowgirl boots, with room to grow for a certain girl’s foot.  Her face when she saw them was priceless.  She has always refused to wear anything matching with me, but red cowgirl boots?  Watch out world, we’re gonna have matching boots. 
There were also punch bowls galore at every thrift I went to today.  It was hard to resist them, but I did.  I think three is enough, don’t you?  I never did find a new stainless steel pot.  The one I have works for now, it’s just, huge. 
Oh, and the peach pickles?  7 pounds of peaches yielded exactly 4 pint jars.  Not a whole lot.  I got some half pint jars today and did another batch, as there was a bunch of brine left over and I didn’t want to waste it.  They have to sit for at least 24 hours and I don’t feel like opening one of my 4 large jars tonight, so I can’t report on the taste.  Two batches of pickles didn’t make a dent in the half bushel of seconds I picked up out at Henley’s for a song yesterday, so I also canned a half dozen pint jars of plain peaches and whipped up a pie this afternoon, because yesterday’s slightly underripe peaches were today’s about to be overripe peaches when they sit in a box in your un-air conditioned kitchen and it’s 90 something degrees outside.  Also exactly why I felt I needed to can AND run the oven today because honestly, the house didn’t feel like it was 90 something out there today.   I can report my pie crust definitely acted as if it was too hot to be making a pie, but I perservered anyway and made it work.  It’s not pretty, but it’s pie.

Second Generation.

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I packed up the fam and took them to meet my friend Sheilah’s family in Virginia Beach last week.
My recent girls weekend was the first time I’d seen Sheilah in close to twenty years.  I knew her family had moved closer to us in recent years, but no plans to get together had worked out previous to our April gathering.   When I left for that weekend, Edie made me promise I’d scope it out for a return trip with her joining me, because we had not been to the ocean in a few summers and she was slightly jealous I was heading to the beach without her.
Turns out Sheilah’s two kids are close in age to Edie – Nolan being 10, Tricia being 9.  When I discovered Tricia had a thing for American Girl Dolls and Polly Pockets, I suspected the girls might hit it off.
Which they did.  Like gangbusters. 
Within a few hours of our arrival, they had locked themselves in a bathroom for ‘private time’. 
When they finally vacated the bathroom, there was a line of naked Barbies carefully arranged around the tub.  Just like our house.
Kindred spirits they were.
Nolan was not left out. 
He had prepared some welcoming items, such as a short list of what the best TV kids cable channels were, which upon discovering, Edie declared ‘a great idea’ and most thoughtful.  She loves details like that.  She helped him orchestrate a trick on his sister on the beach, getting her to sit on his towel, which was carefully hiding a large hole he had dug. My girl loves a good prank.

The husbands hit it off as well, bonding over beer and bourbon. 
After briefly meeting Sheilah’s clan a few months ago, I was pretty sure they’d all get along, but to see it actually happen was good.  There are always different levels of ‘getting along’ when your old friends and your family gets together, some of whom become what we call ‘cousins’.  Sheilah’s family became what we like to call Virginia cousins this weekend.

My friend Amy had given me a lovely bottle of pink sparkling wine I carried along with me to share with Sheilah.  We toasted old friends and new, the extendeds and the generations hitting it off.
There was much joy and merriment, good food, beach time and much relaxing.  The weather was perfect, the hospitality generous.  It was a fanastic worlds colliding, mini-vacation sort of weekend.
Now for them to head west so that we can repay the hospitality.

Rules of the Road.

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You know the closing shot of “Dazed and Confused” where they are heading down the road, windows down, radio cranked, driving off into summer?  I love that scene.  It sums up one of my favorite parts of summer- the roadtrip.
 We are a roadtripping family.  We take them all year long, but come summer, when we are free of school and the routine that comes along with it, we have a tendency to hit the road with much frequency.  We haven’t had a proper vacation in years, but we have lots of roadtrips and mini-vacations.  We seem to have a number of friends who either live near, have second homes near or access to a family member’s second home near a large body of water.  We like to renew those acquaintances during the summer months when school is out and yes, enjoy the large bodies of water.  It doesn’t have to be a large body of water, it could be a creek, as long as there is water nearby, and we are there. We are not limited to just visiting those near the water, but certainly, water bumps you to the top of the must see list. 
This summer is no different, with our first big family roadtrip this week to Virginia Beach.   While Edie & I have a certain groove all our own for mother/daughter trips, and Pat & I have a groove for our roadtrips,  there are some rules in common for all our family roadtrips.
1.  Music is the driver’s choice.  If you don’t care for the music, you are welcome to put your headphones on at any time.  Edie can and will sing louder than you can play Slayer when she has her headphones on.  Daddy might cut her some slack and play the Pandora channel he set up on his iphone for her that is chock full of Taylor Swift, but I’m not that nice.  (I’m pretty sure the Taylor Swift channel is a total result of her outshouting Slayer. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.)
I like to think of our time in the car as a chance to work on her musical education and explore new music with her.   Of course, I also have a tendency to listen to the same music over and over which drives everyone nuts, but hey, that’s life.  As a family unit, there currently is a small handful of artists we seem to agree on.  Last Christmas, we spent 10 hours one way in the car only agreeing on NPR’s All Songs Considered series of podcasts on Bob Dylan celebrating his 70th birthday.  (If I could find the podcasts to link to I would. They were great to listen to.) I spent the rest of the time trying to drown out the little voice behind me in the back seat that insisted on singing Michael Jackson over and over while it competed with what her father was playing over the car stereo system.  Clearly I had neglected to pack my headphones.
2. Road food.  I will pack a cooler with drinks, mostly water bottles,  but we are fans of the pit stop at gas stations and truck stops.  I might pack a few snacks, a bag of goldfish, an apple or two, but honestly, we eat junk food on the road.  Everything in moderation, including moderation.  We eat healthy the majority of the time – even when we reach our destination we eat healthy (with the exception of Oysterfest, when we have funnel cake for breakfast), so in the car, it’s whatever you want.  I personally have a thing for BBQ corn nuts on roadtrips. We are also big fans of the Buffalo Hot Wings Preztels, which seems so wrong on one level and yet, they are so good.  
Summertime is also perfect for slushies, preferably half cherry half coke slushies.  Sometimes there really is nothing better on a hot summer day than an ice cold Coke.  Not Pepsi, Coke.  In a glass bottle. 
I’m also always on the hunt for Orange Nehi.  It’s nearly impossible to find anymore.  If you happen to know of where I can find it, will you let me know? Thanks.
3.  Maps.  You may have picked up the fact a few weeks ago when I talked about how impressed I was with my friend Bonnie for bringing her own map on our roadtrip that I am not known for having current, up to date maps in my car.  I don’t even always print out directions, rather I scribble notes down from mapquest and if I remember to bring them, great.  If not, well, we’ll get there eventually.  I happen to think I have a great sense of direction, no matter what my family says.
I recently got rid of the pocket sized 1989 road map that got me everywhere I wanted to go from my college days until it’s replacement with a newer version.  I now have a road atlas from earlier in this century I picked up at The Green Valley Book Fair for something like $3.  It’s never quite in depth enough for my husband, who’s job has required much traveling over the years to the point where he carries his own Gazetteer in his work truck, but never seems to have it on hand when we are in the family mobile.  He has a habit of stopping and purchasing a new map for my vehicle that always seems to end up in his work truck at some point before our next roadtrip that could utilize the map.   
Now that he has an iphone and we have access to whatever app it is that tells us how to get where we are going, we no longer find ourselves stopping to buy new maps.  Not that I bother myself with them anyway.  Despite this, he still listens to me when I give directions and we still find ourselves sometimes slightly uhm, not exactly sure where we are.
4.  Route.  We prefer back roads to interstates.  Sure, there are times when we take the highway, but there are only a small handful of destinations we go to that require the highway route.  This is generally where it can be an issue that I don’t always carry a proper map.  I think it makes for more of an adventure myself.  
I don’t always remember road names or route numbers, but I remember the landscape surrounding a turn I know I should take.  Sometimes it’s the name of a town on a highway sign that tells me where to turn – not a final destination, but I’ll recognize I want to drive through a particular burg to get where I’m going.  This can drive my husband nuts.  Tell me to turn left at the dog and I know exactly where I’m going everytime.  It’s not for everyone, just those of us with extra special senses of direction.
5.  Packing.  We are not pack ahead people.  I might do laundry before hand, but for the most part, we are get up, pack up and hit the road people.  If I’m feeling especially on the ball, I might write up a list the night before of what I want to bring, but don’t count on it.  Really, the only thing I do ahead of time is make food to share with our hosts when we arrive.  The important stuff.
Each man is responsible for themselves.  I started making Edie pack her own road entertainment bags when she was still a toddler and then a few years ago I started making her pack her own suitcase.  I used to double check her bags before we left and sometimes if I remember to do that, I still do it.  There have been times when we’ve gotten somewhere and I’ve realized she’s packed no books to read, or worse, no clean socks or underwear.  I chose to look at it as a learning experience for her.  I’ve learned from it too, in that I now remind her to pack underwear. When I remember of course.
6.  Departure Times.  We as a family are not necessarily known for our promptness, especially if we are headed out for any sort of fun.  I once overheard a friend say to another friend “I knew when they said they were leaving at 8 am that they’d be here for lunch.  Always add two hours to whatever time they say they are getting on the road and you’ll know when to expect them.”  That still rings true.  Even when we do manage to leave at our announced and we really mean that time, we always seem to have to turn back to pick up some forgotten essential.  Our last family roadtrip, it was the tent we were supposed to be camping in.
7. Windows down vs AC. I would always much rather drive with the windows down and the air conditioning off.  I love having the wind in my hair.  I do make exception for those roadtrips in the middle of those brutally hot days, but if I’m alone, I’m driving with the windows down, period.  I don’t care how hot it is. 
8. What we leave behind.  It’s always something.  Perhaps it’s a statement on how much fun we’ve had that we don’t want to leave, but one of us always manages to leave something behind when it’s time to go home.  Always.
 
And that is how we roll down the road.  Music blaring, junk food eating, not always exactly sure where it is we’re going but knowing we’ll get there and half the fun is the journey, right?,  hoping we didn’t forget anything too terribly important and if you know how to translate us, right on time.
So if you are within a few hours driving distance, have any access to water and would love company this summer, just let us know.  We’ll bring baked goods.

Chickens!

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After years of babbling about it, we finally have chickens.
We have been working with a neighbor, fixing up the old coop behind his house. We ordered an assortment of rainbow layers from Murray McMurray and they arrived in yesterday’s mail.

Driving home with them in my car from the post office where I had to retrieve them, they were chirping along to the music.

Brian found someone to split an order of 25 with, which is the minimum order.  We wanted pretty chickens AND pretty eggs, but we only have room for about a dozen hens.
 It’s been a few years since we’ve had a flock of chickens in the neighborhood and we’ve missed the sound of their clucking.  With none of us on this side of the street having dogs or cats right now, we needed a new animal or twelve, so chickens it was.

They are an awful lot of cute right now.
They are installed in Brian’s basement for the time being, where everyone has been wandering in & out, checking on the chicks.  We won’t know exactly what breeds we have until they grow some more, but we do know we have quite a mix.  Lots of little puffballs on their heads, lots of different colors.
One of the things I love about our neighborhood is our sense of community.  Brian’s last flock wandered through all our yards and so it made sense that we pitch in to help out with a new one. We swap plants and produce from our gardens, why not share chickens too?  As I sit here typing this, I hear the kids across the street talking about going down to see the chicks.  There are new chicks on Greenleaf and somehow, all is right with our little world.  As it should be.

A Feast for the King of the Castle.

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Since I am slightly demanding about being pampered on Mother’s Day (read: I want someone else to get up and make me coffee and I’m not cooking dinner that day), I feel the least I can do is make Pat anything he wants for dinner on Father’s Day, even if it’s something I don’t like, like lamb.
Pat & Edie are both fans of lamb.  Me?  I don’t care for it.  I have tried it numerous ways over the years and it just does not appeal to me.  Since I do most of the shopping and cooking around here, we tend to eat what I like, which means no lamb, except for special requests on days like Father’s Day and birthdays. 
Not too long ago, I had seen a post on E.A.T. for lamb burgers that Tim said (and I quote directly) “If you have shied away from lamb, this is a good recipe that has training wheels.” So when the request came in for lamb, I immediately thought of this recipe.  At the very least, I figured I’d be happy with the sides of hummus and couscous.
We opted to grill the burgers instead of cooking them on the stovetop, but otherwise, I followed Tim’s easy recipe.  I whipped up some hummus, some Tzatziki, a Couscous salad and a Watermelon Feta Mint Salad which Pat dubbed “Watafet”Salad.
I liked it.
I liked the lamb.  It was the cumin that did it I think.  Over the years, I have found the addition of cumin almost always adds something interesting to a dish and this was no exception.  We will definitely eat lamb burgers again cooked this way.    Thanks Tim.  You have just made my family very happy to hear we will be eating more lamb. 
I also followed Tim’s side suggestions, with the addition of the watermelon salad. For the couscous, I simply tossed some fresh thyme and chives from the garden with some chopped cherry tomatoes and black olives, salt & pepper and a dash of olive oil.  I’m the only person in this house who likes cucumbers, so I left them out, although they would be a good addition as well. There were some in the tzatziki, so I didn’t want to push it.   As for the “Watafet Salad”, I chopped up about a quarter of a watermelon and a handful of fresh mint.  I added crumbled feta, salt, pepper, lime zest, the juice of a lime and a generous dash of olive oil, tossed it all together and served it.  It didn’t appear to be a salad that would keep well, so I wouldn’t make more than you can eat at the time.  However, it was quick, easy and would be a great dish to carry along to a potluck.
It was a feast fit for the king of our castle. 

Second Wednesday in June.

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During the warmer months, I block the second Wednesdays of each month off on my calendar, for those nights my dear friend Leni hosts a gathering on her front porch, simply known as “Second Wednesdays”.  There are always interesting people to meet and good conversations to be had, mostly revolving around gardens and food, two of my favorite subjects.
Leni is one of those people that I firmly believe the universe dropped into my life for a reason.  She’s an amazing woman.  Her website is currently down right now, but I can share this wonderful article published in Virginia Living two years ago about her.  I’m proud to not just call her friend, but a kindred spirit.  Through my friendship with Leni, I have made connections that have literally, transformed my life, starting with the discovery of lemon basil and how it sends my green bean basil pickles to a whole new level. 
Yesterday was the second Wednesday in June.  It was one of those perfectly beautiful sunny June days, not too hot, breeze just right.  I enjoy the drive out to Leni and her husband Kip’s almost as much as I enjoy my visits.  Beautiful views of farmland and rolling hills nestled up against the Blue Ridge give way to windy, narrow country roads as you make your way there.
While wandering through Leni’s garden, I had a serious case of Romaine envy.
How gorgeous is that?  I have never had romaine look that good, not for lack of trying.
She also had a new batch of chicks.  I only stopped to ooh and aah over them briefly, as our chicks are expected to arrive sometime after Sunday and I am saving all my baby chick love for them.

The piggies however, were another story. 
How cute are they?  Edie suggested naming them Wilbur & Babe, but Leni had already thought of Prune and Pork Chop.   Seriously adorable.
When I asked Edie what she thought about us getting a pig though, she shut me down fast with a firm “No”.  This as she was nibbling on some of Leni’s freshly baked bread spread with some of my Bacon Jam.   Seems she’s content to leave it to our friends to raise pigs while we visit them and enjoy them in other forms later on.   
Also quite lovely to take in were the poppies.  One of these days I’ll get around to growing some of my own.  Until then, I’ll make myself content to admire those grown by my friends.
There is something in the combination of landscape, conversation and company that always leads me feeling realigned in a way that I don’t always know that I need after an evening at Leni and Kip’s.  Last night was no exception. As we made our way back into town, we couldn’t help but notice the sky to the west beyond the Blue Ridge still had a glow about it, which I like to think was the universe smiling in agreement as well.

A Cake AND A Pie.

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In the midst of the craziness of the last week of school, a dear friend had her birthday. We got together to celebrate it Saturday night with dinner and drinks. I was asked to bring dessert, which I was more than happy to do, as she had made me a yummy chocolate cake for my birthday last fall and I wanted to return the favor. In addition to our two families were two others, with a kid count close to 10, so after some thought, I decided that the kids needed their own dessert. I realized that I wasn’t up for making two cakes, so when I woke up in the middle of the night with the genius idea of making a chocolate pudding pie for the girls, I was pretty proud of myself.  When I realized I could use my mac daddy cake carrier to transport my two desserts, I was even more proud of myself.  I used the stacking cupcake levels to hold the two desserts.  What I love best about that thing is that it collapses for storage, so while it can hold 24 cupcakes, two cakes or a cake and pie as the case may be, it doesn’t sit around taking up the space of two cakes.
 I made a chocolate pudding pie with a chocolate graham cracker crust for the kids.  I smashed a packet of chocolate graham crackers, sprinkled in a little bit of sugar, melted 6 tablespoons of butter, poured it on top and combined it all, then spread it out in the pie plate.  I chilled it briefly before pouring the pudding on top.
I used the chocolate pudding recipe from Wayne Harley Brachman’s Retro Desserts cookbook.  I’ve blogged about this cookbook before – it’s my go-to dessert cookbook. Not only does it have great recipes, it talks about techniques, which are really key to baking.   Homemade pudding is fairly easy and once you’ve had the homemade version, you will find it hard to eat the instant boxed version.  (I’m including it here at the end of the post.  Try it for yourself.)
I think the key to good pudding is using fresh, whole milk.  I use a local dairy, Homestead Creamery, who bottle their products in glass.  The difference in taste from any other dairy product you’ve ever had is something you just have to try for yourself. 

After the pie cooled for a few hours, I spread a layer of fresh whipped cream on top of the pudding, then garnished the pie with fresh cherries.
As for the grown-ups dessert a few weeks ago, I happened to notice an old Bon Appetit my birthday celebrating friend was getting rid of that had a picture of what looked to be an amazing chocolate cake on the cover.  I ended up ripping the recipe out and bringing it home. As I was looking for a cake to bake, I realized this cake was the perfect one to bring with us Saturday.
It’s from the September 2006 issue, La Bete Noire.  I have never ever made a cake with this much chocolate in it – just the cake calls for 18 ounces, with the ganache on top calling for another 8 ounces.  It’s a flourless cake, with the ingredients being butter, chocolate, eggs and a simple syrup.  I think what appealed to me the most was the fact that you left the cake in the springform pan you baked it in, then dumped the ganache on top, making sure it was evenly distributed and then let it chill for a few hours.  That is definitely my kind of frosting. 

I garnished this cake with dollops of whipped cream and blueberries from our bushes and served it with more whipped cream and berries.
A chorus of girls serenaded the birthday girl.  Once everyone tried the cake, it was agreed that chocolate pudding pie was a much better dessert for the girls.  “The Black Beast” was intense. And divine.  And actually pretty darn easy to make, which is key, because when you make a pie and a cake in the same day, you don’t want to spend the day slaving over them, especially when it’s close to 90 degrees outside.
I brought home the remnants of the chocolate pie as well as a little bit of the birthday cake, leaving the bulk of it for the birthday girl.  I think I have found a new go-to cake that will leave everyone impressed with my baking abilities, although honestly, it’s just an ability to read a recipe and know which ingredients to use.  You can never go wrong with 60% cacoa.  Ever.

Chocolate Pudding
from Retro Desserts
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa
1/2 cup sugar, divided
2 1/2 cups milk, divided
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
Melt butter and chocolate.
Whisk the cornstarch, cocoa and 1/4 cup of the sugar into 1/2 cup of the milk, then whisk in eggs and yolks.
In  heavy bottom saucepan over medium heat, bring the remaining 2 cups of milk and 1/4 cup sugar just to the simmering point (it will wiggle in the pot).  Drizzle this hot liquid into the egg mixture, while whisking constantly.  Return the mixture to the saucepan, whisking constantly.  Cook until the mixture thickens.  Mix in the melted chocolate.  Pour into serving bowls,covering the surface with wax paper to prevent a skin from forming.  Let cool, then refrigerate until chilled.  Makes 6 servings or one pie.

Warm Weather Whites (In the Kitchen Series)

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This post was previously published for In The Kitchen Magazine, which sadly, is no longer.  This article ran in July of 2011.

At the onset of warm weather every spring, I break out the all the accoutrement of the season – shorts, flip flops and fill my wine rack with a variety of white wines. As the season winds around, I find myself gravitating towards lighter and sometimes more effervescent wines.

Vino Verde, for example, is about the most delightful wine I can imagine on a hot summer day. A Portuguese wine, it is light and fruity, with a definite pétillance to it. It is high in acid, so it has a certain crispness that I liken to lemonade, and has a lower alcohol content, which makes it a perfect ‘by the pool’ wine. On those really cold winter days, when I need to pretend I’m somewhere warm and tropical, it’s Vino Verde I imagine myself drinking. It is always the first bottle of white I grab in March, when I begin stocking for the warm weather, because I want to make sure I have it on hand when the time comes. Best of all, Vino Verde is a fairly inexpensive wine – you can find great bottles of the stuff for under $10.

If you really want to impress your friends, seek out a bottle of Txakoli (sometimes known as chacolí) for an afternoon of fun. Txakoli is a Spanish wine, very similar to Vino Verde, with a crispness and touch of sparkle thanks to a high acid content, but has a bit more heft in the body from its Portuguese counterpart. It was a primarily home distilled wine for many years, but it was rediscovered in the 1980’s and is finally being imported in this county. It’s worth seeking out.

If sweet is more your preference, then a bottle of Moscato is something you must try if you haven’t already. A light, fruity, slightly sweet, frizzante wine from Italy, Moscato is considered a lovely aperitif, brunch or dessert wine. Talk about versatile! Moscato typically has hints of peach (among other fruits) and is low in alcohol.

Of course, if you are just in the mood for something sparkling, why not try a bottle of Prosecco? Prosecco is an Italian sparkling wine that is dry, with subtly sweet fruity notes. In recent years, it has become a popular and less expensive substitute for Champagne. It also mixes beautifully and is the main ingredient in the classic Italian cocktail, Bellini.

By this point, you may have noticed some similarities in these suggestions. All are lower in alcohol content, which is recommended for those blistering hot days, and are lighter bodied wines. They all come from countries with a Mediterranean climate – hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. I can’t think of a better recommendation for a wine to drink on a hot summer day than one that hails from a climate well versed in hot summer weather.