Maine Bicentennial, A Cookbook, and Me

We enjoyed this appetizer as our main course tonight. We decided that the best first course to pair with it would be miso soup. Unfortunately, as I was laying out the ingredients for the sauce which the shrimp will marinade in for 1/2 hour to 1 hour, I realize that we are Out of Maple Syrup. Honestly, friends, this has never happened to me in my lifetime. Let me back up and explain why I am so shocked.  I hail from Vermont. I have relatives who make maple syrup every year, and a jug of it always seems to live in my fridge. Guess who hasn't made a trip to the relatives lately to stock up? And with COVID-19 restrictions, looks like I won't be traveling soon.  Heavens, I might even have to buy some Maine maple syrup... Without the maple syrup to balance the smoke of the paprika, the dipping sauce recommended for the shrimp blankets is just not what you want to do. The marinade itself works, without syrup, for the shrimp. But for dipping sauce, we just dug out several sauces we ke...

Wish I could have known "the Foss Girls of Harmony." Ada, in particular. Just love the story about how she teaches her sister to make believe, during the Depression, when she is hungry and wishing for a hot dog. (Sorry, you'll have to buy this marvelous cookbook to hear the rest of the story!) I'm entering this pudding in the "Dash of Maine Cooking Challenge." If you are interested in trying out some of the recipes in this cookbook, for the next six weeks, see www.maine200cookbook.com for more information. I've been making custards for only about two decades. My mom had Type 1 diabetes, and it was an easy sugar-free pie to bake for her. Her craving for sweets increased, as she got older, and I was happy to oblige with custard pies.  She was hospitalized frequently, being a brittle diabetic, and during several prolonged hospitalizations, when she was very ill, my custard pie was one of the few things that tempted her to eat, for which I remember being esp...

The person who contributed this recipe attributes it to her grandmother, Grace E. Locklin of Kezar Falls. There is a black and white photo accompanying this recipe and Mrs. Locklin stands in a doorway with her family. Lots of children! I can just picture their delight when their mother made this fudge. There are only four ingredients to this recipe. And you guessed it, one of them is a potato. Who knew you could make a dough with mashed potato and powdered sugar? Not me, but then, I'm not a fudge connoisseur. My sweet tooth is not keen on something so over-the-top sweet.  One small change to the recipe might make me a fan of this fudge, tho. I would replace the peanut butter filling with Nutella. Why didn't I? The cupboard is fresh out. I confess that rolling the peanut-butter covered dough into a log was a trick. The dough wanted to stick to the pastry mat. Eventually, it released and rolled properly. Don't you just love the way the fudge looks on the plate, cut to show th...

Remember the first recipe I tried? Submitted by the mother of Astronaut Jessica Meir? Well, the cook behind today's lunch menu is famous, but don't wear yourself out trying to think up names of famous Maine cooks. Easiest recipe in this cookbook? Yes. No-fail? Yes. Going to win culinary awards around the globe? No. But when it comes to comfort food, I'm guessing this might be one of author Stephen King's favorites. I followed Mr. King's recipe exactly. Except where he says to use Franco American Spaghetti. Could not for the life of me find that brand name, so finally bought Campbell's Spaghettios. Got home, looked up Franco American and found that, yes, you guessed it, Campbell's bought out Franco American and kept the Spaghettios. Spaghettios were introduced in 1965. What kid doesn't love those little circular bits of pasta soaking in a tomato and cheese bath? And somehow, according to the writing on the can, they manage to pack 20% of your daily vegeta...

I baked up the cinnamon rolls in the morning yesterday, and come suppertime, was looking for a quick, easy meal. Shrimp Wiggle, it is!  You would be hard pressed to find an easier meal (except, perhaps, what I cooked for my lunch today, but don't skip ahead yet!). The person who submitted this recipe mentions that it came from her grandmother's recipe box. Her grandmother drove a Nash Rambler. And that is just part of the fascinating story behind this recipe.  I'm afraid that the tomato soup overwhelms the delicate taste of the shrimp. I'm guessing this recipe probably came about because Campbell's soups were becoming a household staple. I might have chosen a base for the shrimp that would compliment the flavor of the shrimp, not drown it. I poured the concoction over wheat bread. I tried to jazz it up visually by sprinkling fresh chives from the garden on top. Don't get me wrong. Give me tomato soup any day of the week and it is right up there at the top of the...

Have you ever baked cinnamon rolls swimming in cream and sugar? I couldn't imagine what the end result would be. Would it caramelize? Would it evaporate? Would it rise up and drown my rolls? The suspense had me on pins and needles! I don't keep heavy cream on hand, so used light cream, poured into a 9x13 pan with brown sugar.  Next, do the dough, which, by the way, is a smell that effectively takes any stress sitting on your shoulders, and makes it vanish. There is something about the smell of yeasted dough that is just so relaxing! Not that you'll ever see Yankee Candle come out with a "yeasted dough" scent, but I like it. Roll the dough larger than the recipe recommends, about 16 x 10. The filling is the usual: sugar, cinnamon, soft butter. Spread very thinly, or you get extra cinnamony goo gushing out all over the place when you cut the rolls.  As the title of the recipe states, you only rise this dough once, after you place the rolls into their cream and brown...

State Representative Jared Golden and his wife, Izzy, enjoyed this recipe at their wedding reception.  I can see why. Not only is it tasty, but you don't have to boil the pasta! When I saw "uncooked pasta" in this recipe, I could hardly wait. Mostly because, yes, I've tried such recipes before and the pasta failed to cook through. In my experience, "uncooked pasta" is a promise that rarely comes to fruition. So, I just had to see. You know, you want your local legislators to be truthful in all things, including recipes. A seasoned legislator will surely be comfortable with the citizenry testing out his recipe for truthfulness. I am happy to report that the pasta does, indeed, cook through, without benefit of boiling separately. In fact, I tried a small substitution, and that worked like a charm. I used mini ziti pasta in place of elbow pasta, with no problems at all. The recipe is covered with foil for the first half of the baking time, then uncovered the ot...

I currently am blessed to live in Blueberry Country. And blueberries are my most favorite fruit. So that's something I'm definitely going to have to thank St Peter for, when I get to the Gate. Living in the land of wild blueberries is not heaven, but perhaps comes close. Buckles are just simply the easiest dessert you could ever hope for. Not many ingredients. Not much time involved. Tuck it in the oven and Ta-Dah! Instant scrumptious-ness. The only thing to add, after you pull it out of the oven? Vanilla Ice Cream! Yesssss! Oh, okay, whipped cream will do, if you don't have ice cream. And if you thought this was just a dessert...try thinking out of the box. Like breakfast. Gives an excellent start to any day. Sweeeeet!

I remember my mom making lobster newburg. It was delicious, but I have never made it in my adult life. Confession, my husband made this newburg. Mostly because I know he makes a great lobster newburg, as he made one right around the time of our wedding anniversary that was impossibly flavorful. We didn't have any lobster hanging around in the fridge waiting for a newburg revival, but we did have fresh crabmeat. Sooo, we highly recommend Sylvia's recipe for Crab Newburg as well! Oh, I say that I was not involved in the making of this recipe, but I DID toast the wheat bread over which we poured the delightful concoction. Phew! Hard work, but somebody's got to do it 😄

Oh, my, seafood pie! If you are looking for a simple recipe that satisfies your deepest seafood cravings, look no further. Fresh crabmeat. Cleaned raw shrimp. I can't tell you any more ingredients, it would give away the romantic ending. You've just got to "sea" it for yourself!  I am not kidding, here. This is a wicked easy pie, my friends. If I can make it, anybody can. We enjoyed it the first night, and ate the leftovers the following night, which worked out well because it was wicked hot out and neither of us felt like turning on the oven. A shout-out to the cooks at the United Methodist Church of Auburn, Maine. The cook who submitted this recipe said that it was in the "Women's Society of Christian Service Cookbook 1970" which the cook's mother and father produced. On a typewriter. Typing recipes at the kitchen table. Oh, my, how times have changed!

The title of these popovers implies that they are no-fail. Hah! Leave it to me to discover a way to make Imperfect Popovers.  There's got to be a sermon in that, somewhere... The cook who submitted this recipe indicates that the batter can be poured into custard cups. Well, I have a couple of custard cups, but they are so small, I couldn't imagine a big popover out of such a small cup. So I used my King Arthur Flour popover pan, which is probably as perfect as you can get this side of heaven. Maybe that was my first mistake, I don't know. The cook recommends using room temperature ingredients, and maybe I was too hasty and the ingredients were not warm enough? Aaagh! The agony of not knowing where perfection drops into the realm of everyday imperfection. So, as you may have guessed by now, the popovers did not pop very much, and were, consequently, more bread-y/muffin-y rather than "pop-y." I shall just have to try again. I take comfort from the story told by the ...

Day 3. Sunday afternoons in the heat of summer, there is only one thing on my mind. Potato salad. You know it! Such a food on a hot day is heavenly.  I try to prepare each recipe in the cookbook just as it is printed, the first time around. This recipe is something to be admired for its ultra-simplicity. If what you seek is a nice basic potato salad, this is it. I've always been partial to red potatoes, so I knew this recipe would appeal to my taste buds. It did not disappoint. Nana surely knew how to please her family with this recipe! That being said, I did try, second time around, a bit of dill, and sure enough, adding that little something extra was mighty nice. You might even say, it was perfection perfected!

On a Saturday morning, what food would you love to wake up to? Oh so many good choices out there, but doughnuts were a fav for my dad. He never made them, but he sure could find the shops that specialized in them! So I was certain that my second recipe needed to be doughnuts, in memory of my dad. He liked them plain or raised glazed. We own a small fryer and mostly use it for tempura. I carefully poured in the canola oil to the fill line and plugged it in. We don't own a doughnut cutter, so I found an old metal fluted-at-the-edge round Christmas cookie cutter, for the doughnuts, and a tiny red plastic cutter for the holes.  I liked the process of setting up the dough the night before, and tucking it into the fridge for a night's "rest." First thing in the morning, I cut out about 20 doughnuts (by the time they were fried and set to cool, I'm afraid we lost a few to "taste-testing"). I can just hear Dad now, marveling about all those years when he drove o...

In discussing the recipe with my husband, who is the real cook in the family, I mentioned my new personal challenge, to cook through the Maine Bicentennial cookbook in 2020, starting with this chickpea salad.  He complimented me on the salad. I explained that it was contributed by the mother of Astronaut Jessica Meir. He said, "Well of course she contributed a Chickpea salad recipe. If it was from a guy, it would be Guypea salad." Go ahead, groan. I'll wait. I live with his witty wordplay every day...It's a good thing I love that man so! I think what I appreciated the most about this recipe is the emphasis on fresh lemon juice, and good olive oil. I didn't have any dijon mustard, and substituted curry mustard, which was a surprisingly good choice. BTW, while recipes are traditionally shared friend to friend, and family member to family member, I will not be sharing any of the actual recipes from the book in this blog, since the book is copyrighted. But I encourage...

Last year, I saw a movie: Julie & Julia, about a delightful young woman who loved everything about Julia Child, but especially her cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol 1. This young woman, Julie Powell, determined to cook her way through the MAFC in one year. I was enthralled. I wanted to do this, too. But when I saw how massive the MAFC book is, I faltered. Mayyyybe not. Enter the year 2020, the pandemic, and work-at-home/stay-at-or-near-home reality. A friend of mine posted online that she had entered a recipe in the new Maine Bicentennial Community Cookbook . To support my friend, and because I love reading cookbooks, I ordered the book. And fell in love! On the spur of the moment, on Friday, June 19th, I decided to cook through the recipes in this book by the end of the Bicentennial year. I have tried one recipe per day this past week, (except the night we ate leftover Seafood Pie-it was too hot to cook!).  So, I will be posting about this cooking adventure, a...