Anahita
Gallery, Inc.
Fine
art, photography & textiles from Central Asia.
international recipes
Pinkerton family in their touring
car.
American Home Cooking - Desserts from Hazel's Kitchen
How could I have started this recipe series so far from home? Before we venture again into exotica, into those Papua New Guinea recipes calling for flying fox or snake, let us savor a dozen or so of the best from - where else? - my grandmother's recipe box!
Mabel Van Vleck's Sponge Cake. We had a great-aunt named Mabel, but she couldn't cook at all. This other Mabel definitely could. The Van Vlecks ran cattle on thousands of acres of California Sierra forest. Mabel was a friend of both my great-grandmother and my great-great-aunt Anna, but no one living seems to remember how our families originally linked up. The friendship lasted over several generations. When I was little, my grandfather took me up to some old Van Vleck lands - huge tracts of trees and mountain pasturelands - we were both awed by it all. Take 1 cup Sugar, add 6 unbeaten Yolks and beat well. Add 1 Tbs. Cold Water. Sift in 1 cup Flour (scant) and 1 Tbs. baking powder. Beat Egg Whites and fold in. Optional, add 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract and/or ½ tsp. Almond extract. Bake at 300 degrees [until you can insert a fork and it comes out clean].
Hazel's Sour Milk Biscuits. Sift together 2 cups Flour, 3 heaping tsp. Baking Powder, ¼ tsp. Soda. ½ tsp. Salt. Add about ¼ to 1/3 cups Shortening. Add 1 cup buttermilk. Mix, knead a bit and bake in a hot oven.
Pearl's Green Tomato Pie. Boil 2 cups Sugar and ½ cups Water until it spins a thread from a spoon. Add 6 cut up green Tomatoes, and boil until soft. Thicken with Cornstarch. Take off the fire and add a good lump of Butter, and juice of a Lemon. Put in a Pie Shell and bake.
Apple Butter. 4 qts. cut and peeled Apple Pieces 1 qt. Cider 2 cups Sugar 2 cups dark Karo Syrup 1 tsp. Cinnamon 1 tsp. Allspice Reduce Cider to 2 cups over medium heat. Add Apple pieces. Cook to mush. Add other ingredients and cook until thick, stirring to prevent sticking.
Buggy
used for James Pinkerton's building lumber.
Miss Lombard's Jam Cake. Miss Lombard founded an early school for severely retarded children in San Francisco. My great-aunt Ruth taught kindergarten there; my mother remembers that there was a sandbox in her classroom. Miss Lombard was ahead of her time. She developed vocational training programs for all the children who were able to learn a trade. The older children in the school did fine carpentry, and long ago my grandmother rocked me in a cradle made by one of Miss Lombard's students. ¾ cups Butter 1 ½ cups Sugar 1 cups Jam 4 Eggs, beaten 3 cups Flour ½ tsp. Salt ½ tsp. Cinnamon ½ tsp. Clove ½ tsp. Allspice 1 tsp. Soda ¾ cups Buttermilk Cream butter and Sugar. Add Jam and Eggs. Sift dry ingredients. Stir Soda into Buttermilk and add alternately with Flour. Beat well. Bake at 350 to 375 degrees.
Miss Lombard's Gingerbread. All there is to say about this recipe is that Hazel made gingerbread often, but never often enough for me. ½ cups Shortening ½ cup Sugar 1 cups Molasses 2 tsp. Ginger 2 tsp. Cinnamon 2 ½ cups Flour 2 tsp. Baking Soda 1 cups Boiling Water Cream Butter and Sugar, stir in Molasses and spices, add Flour and mix. Add Soda to Boiling Water, add to mix and beat, then add egg. Bake 35 minutes at 350 degrees.
Hazel's Cold Pumpkin Soufflé. Sprinkle 1 envelope Gelatin over ¼ cup Rum to soften. Stand the container in a pan of simmering water and heat it, shaking it occasionally, until the Gelatin is completely dissolved. In a bowl beat 4 Eggs thoroughly. Gradually add 2/3 cup Sugar and continue to beat the mixture until it is smooth and very thick. Stir in 1 cup cooked Pumpkin seasoned with ½ tsp. each Cinnamon and Ginger and ¼ tsp. each of Mace and ground Cloves. Mix in the Gelatin well, and fold in cup heavy Whipped Cream until the mix holds a definite shape. Oil a 6 inch band of wax paper, and tie it around a 1 qt. soufflé dish, oiled side in, to form a standing collar. Fill the dish with the soufflé mixture and chill it until it is set. Carefully remove the paper collar and decorate the top.
Hazel's Lemon Curd for Tarts. 4 Lemons, grate, rind and juice ½ cup Sugar ½ cube Butter 6 Egg Yolks and 2 Whole Eggs Simmer Lemon Rind and Juice, Sugar and Butter in a saucepan. Blend Eggs and add to saucepan. Stir constantly until mixture thickens. Pour into pre-cooked pie shell. Cool and top with whipped cream or meringue.
Hazel's Zucchini Bread. Beat together 1 cup Oil or Butter, 2 cups sugar and 3 Eggs. Add in the following Dry Ingredients: 3 cups Flour 1 tsp. Baking Soda 3 tsp. Cinnamon 1 ¼ tsp. Salt ¼ tsp. Baking Powder Add 3 tsp. Vanilla 2 cups shredded Zucchini 1 cup chopped Walnuts or Raisins Grease and flour 2 large bread pans. Bake about one hour at 325 degrees.
Pinkertons
at San Francisco beach.
Mrs. Gaebler's Apple Sauce Cake. My mother used to play with Mrs. Gaebler's daughter. The Gaebler's lived near Live Oak Park in Berkeley, and they had big bay trees and a real creek in their back yard. 1 ½ cup thick Unsweetened Apple Sauce 1 ½ cup Raisins, Plumped in Boiling Water and Drained ½ cup Butter 1 ½ cup Brown Sugar 2 Eggs 2 cups Cake Flour - do not sift before measuring 1 ½ tsp. Soda, ¾ tsp. Salt, 1 ½ tsp. Cinnamon, ¾ tsp. Cloves, ¾ tsp. Nutmeg ¾ cup Walnuts Cream Butter and Sugar. Add Eggs and beat. Add Apple Sauce. Sft dry ingredients and add. Add drained raisins and nuts. Place paper on bottom and sides of baking pan, as cake sill stick and pull apart. Bake at 350 degrees for about one hour.
Hazel's Indian Pudding. Hazel received Fanny Farmer's Boston Cook Book as a wedding gift in 1925, and many of her early American recipes came from the Boston school. It was the only cookbook that Hazel paid attention to. She made Yorkshire Pudding and a delicious Salt Pork and Baked Beans with Brown Bread. Nowdays this kind of food is fashionable again, and though this desert takes a long time to cook, it is worth it. 3 cups Milk ¼ cup Corn Meal ¼ cup Sugar ½ tsp. Salt, Pinch of Soda, ½ tsp. Ginger, ½ tsp. Cinnamon 2 Eggs, well beaten ¼ cup Molasses Heat 2 cups of the Milk in a double boiler. When hot, add Corn Meal slowly, stirring constantly. Cook and stir for 5 minutes, then remove from heat. Mix Sugar, Salt, Soda, Ginger and Cinnamon. Add beaten Eggs and stir all into Corn Meal mix. Combine Molasses and 1 cup Milk. Mix all together. Bake in buttered casserole 2 ½ to 3 hours at 275 degrees. Serve warm with Cream or Ice Cream.
Hazel's Currant Cake or Pound Cake. ½ lb. Butter 2 cups Sugar 4 Eggs 1 Tbsp. Brandy or Rum ½ tsp. Vanilla 2 cups Cake Flour ¼ tsp. Cream of Tartar ¼ tsp. Mace ¼ tsp. Salt 1 ½ - 3 cups Currants or White Raisins (Hazel notes that the original amount, 3 cups, is too many, and they all sink. Try the lower amount, then add more if you are unhappy with the lighter density.) Cream Butter, adding Sugar gradually while creaming.
Hazel's Double Fudge Cake. Hazel thought that this was her best desert recipe. 4 squares Chocolate 1 ¼ cup Milk 2/4 cup Brown Sugar firmly packed 2/3 cup Shortening ¾ tsp. Salt 1 tsp. Vanilla 1 tsp. Soda 1 cup Sugar 3 Eggs 2 ¼ cup sifted Flour Melt the Chocolate in Milk in a double boiler. Blend the two together with an egg beater. Add the Brown Sugar and cool. Combine the Shortening, Salt, Vanilla and Soda. Add Sugar gradually and cream until fluffy. Add the Eggs one at a time. Add small amounts of Flour alternately with the Chocolate mixture. Bake at 350 degrees until done. Hazel doesn't specify, but we know that this cake was frosted with chocolate Buttercream.
Hazel's Rhubarb Crisp I've saved the best for last. This recipe card was written in a childish, say a ten-year-old hand that I recognize as my own. Hazel must have needed a fresh copy, and I must have volunteered! There is nothing bad to say about the double fudge layer cake above, but this simple desert beats all the rest. 3 cups cut-up Rhubarb (approx. 1 pound plus some more) ¾ cup Sugar 2 Tbsp. Flour 1 beaten Egg ¼ cup Butter 2/3 cup Flour ½ cup Brown Sugar Sift together Sugar and 2 Tbsp. Flour. Combine with Rhubarb and beaten Egg and put in a baking dish. Mix together Butter, 2/3 cup Flour and Brown Sugar and sprinkle over top. Bake at 350 degrees until done
|
||||||||
Anahita Gallery Inc.
616 ½ B Canyon Road Santa Fe, NM 87051
This site developed by WebWind Productions
© Copyright by WebWind Productions 1998, 1999, 2000, 200
textiles,
jewelry
ethno arts, Islamic arts, and
antiquities
textiles,
jewelry
ethno arts, Islamic arts, and
antiquities
textiles,
jewelry
ethno arts, Islamic arts, and
antiquities
textiles,
jewelry
ethno arts, Islamic arts, and
antiquities
textiles,
jewelry
ethno arts, Islamic arts, and
antiquities
textiles,
jewelry
ethno arts, Islamic arts, and
antiquities
textiles,
jewelry
ethno arts, Islamic arts, and
antiquities
textiles,
jewelry
ethno arts, Islamic arts, and
antiquities
textiles,
jewelry
ethno arts, Islamic arts, and
antiquities