One of the first plants to make an appearance in my garden is always rhubarb, that old midwestern standby that used to be in everyone’s yard. I do have a patch, and yes, the starts came from my mom on the farm. Every year I make pies and cakes to remember the taste of home. This year I tried something new, a fool and a spritzer.
Rhubarb originated in China and was cultivated for medications as early as 2700BC.
Seeking out the rare and expensive is always a thrill. Sometimes the hunt outweighs the actually find. Not so with saffron. We add a bit of intrigue to the pursuit in our shop. With a little sign in the window “Saffron for Sale Here” people will often browse the shop for along time before asking, “where’s the saffron?” Sometimes it’s mere curiosity and sometimes a purchase of several 1-gram packages. We don’t display it along with
In my real life my husband and I have a tea shop.Since we celebrated the 30 year anniversary of the shop very silently (even we can’t remember the exact date!…middle of May sometime), we decided it was time to do a little cookbook of afternoon tea. Actually I think it was JIm’s idea of how to get me to test all those scone recipes, so he would have a ready breakfast every morning for days on end.
“Oh bring us some figgy pudding, oh, bring us some figgy pudding, so bring some right now!”
How many times have we sung this song, and how many times have we actually eaten figgy pudding?
Every other Friday I receive a gift. It’s almost like Christmas for me…but I actually paid for it…and I actually LOVE vegetables. It’s a CSA box. If you’re not familiar with the concept, it’s a wonderful thing that is “growing” around the nation. Community Supported Agriculture. In the spring you sign up for a subscription,
The first words out of my husband’s mouth this morning, were “What is smoking bishop?” He thought the “foodie” would know for sure. Well,….I’ve never heard of it. He was watching The Christmas Carol late last night and this was what Scrooge wanted to share with his employee,Mr. Crachet, after his miraculous transformation to be a lover of Christmas and humanity.
In all the old cookbooks you can find recipes for fools and trifles, both derived from the British and rather similar in nature. While the fools dominate summer with berries and cream, Christmas is a favorite time for the trifles, made with canned fruit, cream and cake with a good dose of spirits. I found this combination for fall that was the perfect ending to an upcoming class at the Cookery. Apples, pears, and pumpkin, laced with cinnamon, caramel, and Calvados (apple brandy). Sounds like October to me! You can make it in a big dish or individual.
