A Word About Baking Powder
Baking powder is a leavening agent that reacts to liquid and heat and creates carbon dioxide gas, which expands the bubbles created by the creaming process, causing the cake to rise. Baking powder loses its effectiveness after six months to a year. Be sure to check the date on the can when you buy it or mark it yourself.
Love Those Leftovers
I hate to throw food away. I really do. Here are some ideas that will transform one night’s extras into a fresh meal.
Toss up a salad. Add leftover roasted meat or fish to fresh lettuces and vegetables. Sprinkle an assortment of cheeses and add your favorite dressing.
Stir up a soup. Cook leftover meats and vegetables in a chicken or vegetable broth. Add fresh or frozen vegetables and cook through. Season as you like. If you have leftover cooked pasta you may want to add as well. Let's not forget tofu.
If you cooked too much pasta don’t worry about it. You can add sausage and spinach to the next night’s leftover pasta. Add a little olive oil and grated cheese and you’re set.
Make some French bread sandwiches. Slice the French bread lengthwise. The long loaves are great for piling with leftover meat and topped with cheeses. Place under the broiler for tasty open-faced sandwiches.
Be creative. I have come up with some good recipes out of a fridge full of leftovers.
Fish & Shellfish Serving Sizes
Use these amounts as a guideline for how much fish or shellfish to purchase per person.
Whole Fish 12 Ounces to 1 Pound
Drawn or Dressed Fish 8 Ounces
Steaks or Fillets 4 to 5 Ounces
Shelled Shrimp 3 to 4 Ounces
Live Crabs 1 Pound
Whole Lobster 1 to 1 1/2 Pounds
Lobster Tail 8 Ounces
Cooked Lobster Meat 4 to 5 Ounces
I just made my Very Cherry Pie today.
Why I Like Kosher Salt
I nearly always cook with kosher salt (coarse salt) for its ease and its pure mild flavor. It’s coarser in texture than standard table salt, but the crystals are actually fine flecks that cling to food and dissolve quickly. The large irregular flakes also make it easier to sprinkle evenly and discriminately, especially when seasoning food to taste with a pinch of the fingers. If you are substituting table salt for kosher salt in a recipe, begin with half the amount listed.
Saint Swithin’s Day
Saint Swithin is one of the “weather saints” particularly rain. There is a saying that goes:
Saint Swithin’s Day, if thou dost rain,
For forty days it will remain;
Saint Swithin’s Day, if thou be fair,
For forty days ‘twill rain nae mair.
Saint Swithin’s connection with the weather, and particularly with the rain, doubtless comes from the legend that in his humility he asked to be buried outside his cathedral, where passersby would step over his grave and raindrops from the eaves would fall upon it. He lived in the 9th century and was for a time one of the counselors of the Saxon king, Egbert. Later be became Bishop of Winchester, where great devotion to him long prevailed. Little else is known of him except that his feast is celebrated on the date when his relics were removed from the humble grave he had desired and placed, nearly a century after his death, in a new shrine built for him, where many miraculous cures took place.
Besides the rain, Saint Swithin’s specialty is apples. To honor Saint Swithin we are making Apple Crumble Pie.
Bastille Day
Bastille Day commemorates the storming of the Bastille on July 14th, 1789, by the Parisian revolutionaries which was seen as a symbol of the uprising of the modern nation and of the reconciliation of all the French inside the constitutional monarchy which preceded the First Republic during the French Revolution. Bastille Day, commonly called “Le quatorze juillet”, became the French national holiday one year later, during the “Fete de la Federation” on July 14, 1790. Festivities and official ceremonies are held all over France. The oldest and largest military parade in Europe is held on the morning of July 14th on the Champs-Élysées avenue in Paris in front of the President of the Republic, French officials and foreign guests.
Viva la France!
New Canaan Farmers’ Market
I love going to farmers' markets, especially good ones. It's the closest to "farm to table" that I can get without growing my own fruits and vegetables. Yesterday was my first visit to the New Canaan farmer’s market. It’s a good one! I picked up beets, radishes, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, peaches and plums. Everything looked great and even though the vendors were busy they were very friendly and seemed happy to be there.
New Canaan Farmers’ Market
Saturday 10am to 2pm
May 12th Through October
Old Center School Parking Lot
South Avenue & Maple Street
www.newcanaanfarmersmarket.net
Antiques in the Church Yard
One of my favorite things to do is browse vintage and antique shops. I like to add to my collection of interesting platters, silver and other various kitchen and dining items that I found over the years. I am thrilled when I come across a real find and if it has a low price sticker I am even more thrilled. Imagine my surprise when I ran into an ad for the “Twentieth Annual Antiques In The Church Yard” at the Stevens Memorial United Methodist Church in South Salem, New York. Honestly, I didn’t really have any July 4th plans so how great it was that I now had something fun to do. The drive to South Salem was beautiful and finding the place wasn’t too difficult. I parked the car, paid my $7 admission and started combing through the 120 booths. Like most “antique” fairs, there was a lot of junk, but there was plenty of good stuff too. I came away with a nice set of Vintage Sandwich Glasses (Depression Era Glass) and a Vintage Amish Lunch Pail. It couldn’t have been a better day. Nothing fancy or over the top. For me it’s about the simple things.
Fourth of July
Today Americans will be celebrating our glorious national holiday, Independence Day. On the anniversary of the birth of our nation we are grateful for our forefather’s aspirations for freedom and thank the American signers of the Declaration of Independence at Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. We give thanks that the American spirit lives on.
The Fourth of July is celebrated in every city and town in the United States by patriotic gatherings, parades and speechmaking. The national anthem and other songs are sung, the voices of free people singing a free song. The knowledge that freedom had been defended in the past and might have to be defended again on nights far from peaceful and with weapons far from harmless. For me it produces an emotion that is humbling and sentimental.
Independence Day food it most often of the picnic and/or grilling variety which is correct for a holiday that is usually spent outside. There are traditional dishes originating in George Washington’s Virginia. One such is a breakfast specialty called Rice Waffles. Another traditional dish of the day is poached salmon with egg and caper sauce that is served with green peas and mashed potatoes. It was traditional to serve the first salmon of the season, but we know that this menu of soft foods was prepared for George Washington because of the discomfort caused him by his ill-fitting set of false teeth. The traditional July 4th desserts were Watermelon Pickle and the Independence Day Cake, which is a yeast cake covered in white frosting gilded with boxwood leaves.
For the July 4th holiday I like to make my Blueberry Crisp. It is always a big hit and everyone seems to want the recipe. Whatever you’re making today have a wonderful and safe day.
