"Elsie's Cookbook by Elsie the Cow [Elsie is the Borden Company's mascot] - Carrot and Potato Soup

Date I made this recipe:  November 9, 2014

Elsie's Cookbook (Elsie is the Borden brand mascot) by Elsie the Cow with the aid of Harry Botsford

Published by:  The Bond Wheelwright Company

© 1952

Purchased at Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks, NYC

Recipe:  Carrot and Potato Soup – p. 39-40

Faithful readers of advice columnist, Dear Abby, might recall that she often left a confidential message to a reader along the lines of "Confidential to [Sleepless in Seattle] Yes, the path you indicated you wanted to take is the right one.  Good luck to you."  I have to tell you that I always wanted the back story:  "What was the path?  Why is it right?  Why are you leaving us these encrypted messages, Abby?"  These things were unclear.  This did not deter me from being a faithful reader though and I enjoyed her column all the years that it ran, "encrypted" "Confidential to..." messages or not.  Her regular columns were hilarious.  Abby did not beat around the bush.

By the way, here's some interesting factoids about Dear Abby:  this column, which ran (officially) from 1955 to 2000, was penned by Pauline Phillips.  "Dear Abby" was her alter ego.  Pauline Phillips was married to Ed (Mort) Phillips from Minneapolis, helped build Ed Phillips and Sons, a liquor distribution company, now known as Phillips Distributing Company.  "Abby's" twin sister, Esther, also wrote an advice column called "Ask Ann Landers."  My local newspaper ran "Dear Abby" so I grew up as an Abby person although I did manage to peruse an article or two of "Ask Ann Landers" if the newspaper I was reading at the time carried it.

So for today's cookbook selection, I give you "Confidential to 'MM in Minneapolis'"

This cookbook was used to honor your recent purchase at Friday night's

Maiden Minnesota event.  Moo."

And that's all I'm going to say about that!  So let's talk Elsie the Cow.

Elsie the Cow was created in 1936 as the Borden company mascot/spokesperson.  Per Wikipedia, Elmer the Bull was created in 1940 as Elsie's mate but then later went on to become the mascot for Elmer's Glue.  At the time, Elmer's Glue [company] was a chemical subsidiary of Borden.  (I used to love to pour Elmer's all over my fingertips and then peel off the glue and look at the fingertip markings.  Which may sound odd to grownups but as a youngster, it was rather fun.)

I have to tell you, the cartoon drawings in this cookbook are delightful and hilarious.  I mean, look at the cover:  Elmer is wearing an apron, peeling potatoes and does not look at all happy about it.  Poor Elmer.  Methinks he should just accept his fate as a kitchen mate and be done with it.

Elsie's "no nonsense" approach carried over to the kitchen in the form of recipes that are just "straight up," stick-to-the-ribs kind of fare that were representative of the times (1952).  Nothing is overly-spicy, nothing contains a lot of unmanageable ingredients or steps and everything is pretty easy to make.  The downside is that many dishes looked bland or potentially bland to this cook's palate.  And so I made a few adjustments to my soup to ensure a better outcome.

It should be noted that not only are the ingredients in this book relatively simple, but there is a surprising lack of recipes featuring Borden's products and when a recipe does so, like this soup recipe, it just says "evaporated milk," without referring to Borden's.  This is a far cry from today's brand-name cookbooks that read like a mystery basket on the TV show "Chopped:"  And for your entree, you MUST USE..."Borden's evaporated milk..."  I find that refreshing.

So now that I've let the cat out of the bag when it comes to today's soup ingredients, let me just share a few other tidbits about the recipe:

Instead of using all water, as directed, I used half water and half chicken broth to give the soup more flavor.  I also use whole milk because I like it and can buy it in small containers.  And since I've been "burned" once before by pureeing a soup recipe that I think would have been better "whole," I did not puree this soup as directed.  And this made for a slightly thicker soup than I wanted so I should have added more milk – whole or evaporated – to thin it to my liking but I didn't.  But that's just my preference, not yours.

And finally, for those of you who are waiting for my usual and customary winter weather bitch, here you go: It's 19 degrees outside.  Winter as we know it has not yet arrived (December 21^st is the solstice) but there is snow on the group and the outside temperature has gotten a little frosty.  We will not discuss how my attitude has gotten frosty as well.  At any rate, it's a perfect time of year for soup featuring Elsie's Borden products.  Enjoy.

Carrot and Potato Soup – makes 4-6 servings

1 ½ tablespoons bacon or vegetable fat

3 medium potatoes, diced

4 medium carrots, diced

2 medium onions, sliced thin

2 cups water

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

Salt and pepper

Paprika

1 tablespoon butter

2 drops Tabasco sauce

½ cup evaporated milk (Hint:  Borden's evaporated milk might be nice here!)

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Croutons (for garnish)

Melt the fat in frying pan; add vegetables and cook for 5 minutes over low heat.  Put in 1 ½ cups of the water and cook until vegetables are mushy.  Sift flour on surface of liquid and stir until blended.  Pour in remaining ½ cup water and the milk.  Season to waste with salt, pepper, and paprika.  Simmer 10 minutes.  Press through a sieve, add butter and Tabasco sauce and return to low heat.  (Ann's Note:  I skipped this step as I like my potato soup to be on the chunky side.) Bring to a boil and stir in evaporated milk.  Pour into a large tureen, sprinkle top with parsley and drop in a lot of croutons.  Serve piping hot.  Ann's Note:  I added grated cheese and it was delicious!

"American Cooking 'in der Kuche' - In English - In German" and "Best of German Cooking

Date I made these recipe:  November 2, 2014 (late-breaking Oktoberfest)

American Cooking "In der Kuche" – 850 Recipes In English – In German by Sadie Summers

Published by:  William Frick Publishers

© 1952

Purchased at Bloomington (Police) Crime Prevention Association used book sale

Recipe: Sauerbraten – p. 225

Best of German Cooking by Edda Meyer-Berkhout

Published by HP Books

© 1984 (2^nd printing)

Purchased at Goodwill Stores

Recipe:  Beet Salad – p. 104

Oktoberfest:  It came, it saw, it went.  At least it did in Germany.  In Germany,  Oktoberfest runs from late September through the first weekend in October, which is a little puzzling given the name, right?  So I threw caution to the wind and decided that my "Oktoberfest" would run until the month's end.  I can do these things because well, it's my blog and I'll Oktoberfest if I want to!

And I would have come in under my own self-imposed deadline of October 31, 2014, had I not wanted to make one of my favorite things – Sauerbraten.  And for this recipe, you must (and fair warning here) marinade the meat four days in advance of cooking.  So with tax, license and waiting, I finally made this on November 2^nd.  Well—it's the thought that counts, right?

Now, you should know that observing Oktoberfest is not something I normally do, even though my maternal grandfather's family was German (last name was "Barr," converted from the original "Beer" – for real)  It might be because I don't like beer which is almost inexcusable in life and during Oktoberfest but such is life.  My husband though, likes beer and so he drank mine.  I could have had some German wine, I suppose, except my familiarity with German wine is limited to the following:  Riesling. And I'm not a big fan of Riesling so that was out. Instead, I had a martini which paired well with the sauerbraten and beets and if it didn't, who cares?  Besides, having a martini is just another way to get "pickled" – just like our beef and beats recipes!

Prior to moving to Minnesota, I thought this state was the land of the Scandinavians but I soon learned that there are far more people with German ancestry in their backgrounds than Scandinavian so go figure.  Many Germans came here to become farmers, a profession to which I do not aspire but admire those who did.  Neighboring states of North and South Dakota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska also have high populations (in terms of percentage of population that is German).  Yet when it comes to sheer numbers (as in number of people who are German/German ancestry), the California leads the way. Huh.

In terms of German language skills, I have none or next to none.  My mother's parents came from Austria-Hungary and mostly spoke a Slavic dialect but used Hungarian and a smattering of German when they wanted to talk about something private their children were present.  I think that's pretty cool.

I've only been to Germany once and of course, walked away with a few hilarious stories, most of them owing to the fact that during our brief visit, we managed to encounter people who didn't speak much English.  This was surprising because we were under the impression that most German's spoke English.  Let me sum up the reality for you: "Nein!" 

So story #1:  where Ann and Andy land in Frankfurt, then traveled to Dresden to spend the night.  We didn't have reservations but planned, like we often did, to get hotel names at the train station where there's usually a tourist bureau.  Trouble was, nobody at the train station seemed to understand English and so this was a problem!  But we will credit them for realizing that we needed assistance so they called someone.  And this is "gut" (good)! Well, we waited and waited for this "someone" only to have a little man come flying by us beckoning us to follow him and so we did and we ran like bunnies to our hotel for the night – the Red Cross.  Hahahahahaha...  But you know, it was clean, it was inexpensive and it was fine.  And, as these things go, some friends of ours ended up in the same situation in Dresden and also stayed at the Red Cross which we redubbed the Red Cross Hotel.

Story #2: where Ann is touring a museum located just outside Frankfurt and wants to make a pit stop at the bathroom before leaving.  I was once again astonished to find that the museum guides did not know the English word "bathroom" or other variations thereof and so in the end I had to pantomime what I needed.  So ridiculous. (And of course, the restroom was a million miles away from where I was.)

Story #3: where Ann and Andy wanted to go into a small convenience store only to find out that it closed at 4:30.  In fact, all stores back then (1995) closed at 4:30, period, end of discussion.  Huh.  Did not see that coming.  This almost made me twitch.  It's not like I'm addicted to late-night shopping but 4:30 might as well be dawn o'clock as it came so early.

Story #4:  where Ann and Andy eat dinner just outside Frankfurt and once again, the server didn't know English.  So when I asked her (in English, natch) what a particular item was, she had a hard time telling us so we started guessing.  "Chicken?  "Nein."  "Beef?"  "Nein."  Then there was a pause and she said "Pig."  Okay, then...pork it is.

Story #5:  where Ann tries to order a cup of hot water so she can make tea.  In romance languages, the sentence structure is always a noun followed by the adjective so, for example, agua caliente is Spanish for "hot water."  But again, this was not helpful in Germany as I soon learned:  "Waser heiss?"  "Waser heiss?"  Crickets.  So Andy suggested I try the opposite:  "Heiss Waser?"  Ding, ding, ding – correct!  It would figure that the Germans would put the adjective in front of the noun just like we do here – bastards! ;)  (By the way, in college I took a linguistics class and found that German words account for the basis of a lot of our American ones.)

So that's all I've got about travels to Germany.  Except I may have picked up a wee bottle of kirsch (a cherry-flavored brandy) to commemorate the occasion because when in Rome...Frankfurt...

As to German food, I've always loved Sauerbraten but since it takes so long to make, I always passed on that recipe.  But not today, kids, not today.  And then because I like pickled beets, I threw in the beet salad for a delicious meal.  I thought about making spaetzel, a popular German dumpling, but decided that would likely mean even more work in the kitchen and so I boiled some dumpling noodles instead.

And so onto the cookbooks!  The first cookbook, American Cooking "In der Kuche," had quite the selection of recipes, many of which were authentic German although every once in a while, some American dish would creep in, like a recipe for a Zombie (cocktail).  I passed on that but not without think of the irony of seeing that recipe in this book so close to Halloween.

And then there was a recipe for Peanut Butter Bread, which I have to say is a new one for me.  I love the German name for this dish though:  Erdnussbutter-Kuchen.  In fact, half the fun of reading through this cookbook was seeing the German translations and the German names.  That said, I was pretty much determined to make the sauerbraten and  so didn't spend as much time perusing the cookbook like I normally do.

What I really loved about the Best of German Cooking book was that photos accompanied each recipe and so thankfully, I was able to eliminate any plate that contained fish as I am not fond of fish.  So goodbye to "Pickled Herring" (I'm sorry but... "ew") and "Herring Fillets with Green Beans."  "Fish salad" was also off the table. And since I had already selected a meat dish from the other German cookbook, and since this cookbook didn't contain a competing sauerbraten recipe – what?, I settled on beet salad.  I know, I know – some of you think beets are the "ruddest" food ever, but we love them.  And we loved this dinner.  Just remember though, that you have to marinade the beef for four days  and to plan on an hour or more for the beets to marinade.  Please note too, that the cooking time for this roast is 3 to 4 hours so sit back, relax, have a beer (or other adult beverage) and maybe take in an NFL football game...or 12.

"Zum Whol! "  To your health!

Sauerbraten – Serving size not given but estimate at least four generous servings

For the marinade

4 pounds round or rump of beef

Salt and pepper

1 ½ cups vinegar

1 cup water

4 bay leaves

1 teaspoon peppercorn

12 whole cloves

1 teaspoon mustard seed

To cook the roast

¼ cup fat

6 carrots, cut into strips

2 onions, sliced

4 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon sugar

12 ginger snaps – finely crumbled

Wipe the meat with a damp cloth and sprinkle thoroughly with salt and pepper.  Combine the vinegar, water, by leaves, peppercorn, cloves and mustard seed in a large deep bowl and set beef in this mixture.  (This must be done 4 days before serving).  Cover and let stand in refrigerator, turning the meat each day.  At the end of this marinating period, drain meat, place in a Dutch oven or deep kettle and brown well on all sides in the hot fat.  Strain the vinegar mixture and add to meat along with the strips of carrots and 2 sliced onions. 

Cover pot tightly and simmer until meat is tender – 3 to 4 hours.  Remove meat to heated platter, slicing before serving if you wish.  (Ann's Note:  If I "wish?"  As opposed to what – tearing off chunks?  This cracked me up.)  Strain liquid and reserve.

To make the gravy for this dish, place the flour, sugar and finely crumbled gingersnaps in kettle or Dutch oven.  Slowly add the liquid and simmer until thickened and hot, stirring constantly. (Ann's Note:  this made for a pretty thick gravy.  To make a thinner gravy, add hot broth or hot water incrementally until you achieve your desired thickness/thinness.)  Pour some of this gravy over the meat and serve the rest separately. 

Ann's Note:  They didn't say what to do with the onion and carrots that simmered along with the beef so we ate them.  Why not?

Beet Salad – makes 4 servings

1 lb small beets

1 piece fresh horseradish root of 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish

1 onion

5 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 to 5 tablespoons vinegar

½ teaspoon cumin or caraway seeds

Salt and pepper

Pinch of sugar

½ teaspoon mustard seeds, crushed, if desired

Chopped fresh parsley (for garnish)

1 bay leaf (for garnish)

Wash beets thoroughly but do not remove leaves and roots.  Boil in plenty of water 30 to 50 minutes, depending on size.  When beets are tender, plunge into cold water.  Let stand to cool.  Trim beet roots and tops.  Peel and dice or thinly slice beets.  Peel horseradish root; finely grate.  Finely chop or thinly slice onion. 

In a small bowl, combine beets, grated horseradish (or prepared horseradish), and onion.

In a small bowl, combine oil, vinegar, cumin or caraway seeds, salt, pepper, sugar and mustard seeds, if desired.  Pour dressing over beet mixture.  Garnish with parsley and bay leaf.  Let stand 1 hour before serving.  This salad will keep well up to 7 days if covered and refrigerated.  Serve at room temperature.

Ann's mini rant:  I was almost out of white vinegar and my grocery aisle choices were abysmal.  I had to buy either a big-ass bottle of vinegar that I would probably not use up in my lifetime or buy a small plastic bottle of the stuff.  The problem with the plastic bottle is that it looked like a water bottle and there was no way I was mixing up the water bottles I keep on my counter when cooking with that thing.  But—it was the size I wanted so I bought it and when I got home, transferred it into the existing glass bottle.  Hard to confuse that with a plastic water bottle, right?

"She Came In Through the Kitchen Window - Recipes Inspired by the Beatles and Their Music" - Give Peas (and Pasta) a Chance

Date I made this recipe:  October 27, 2014

She Came in Through the Kitchen Window – Recipes Inspired by the Beatles and Their Music by Stephen J. Spignesi

Published by:  Citadel Press

ISBN:  0-8065-2359-X

Purchased at Half-Price Books, St. Louis Park

Recipe:  "Give (Pasta and) Peas a Chance ("Give Peace a Chance) – p. 143

So.  This is one of those long stories not made short.  And that's because we have to go backwards in time to August 9, 1969 and an awful event that played out in the national news that involved celebrities, famous families, a clan of murderers and even the subject of today's blog, The Beatles.  So buckle your seatbelts because try as I might, I cannot think of how to talk about this cookbook and this recipe without going long on the details of how I came to select this book.  Ready?

On August 9, 1969, actress Sharon Tate (Valley of the Dolls), wife of director Roman Polanski (Rosemary's Baby), her unborn baby (she was 8 months pregnant), and four others, including an heir to the Folgers coffee fortune, were brutally murdered at 10050 Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon, CA (north of Beverly Hills).  News of the event swept the nation and for months, eyes were glued to the set and to print news as we tried to make sense out of what happened.  I was 10 years old, my 11^th birthday being just a few months away in October.

The day after the "Tate murder," in a seemingly unrelated event (it wasn't), Rosemary and Leno LaBianca were murdered in Los Angeles in similar fashion.  Leno and Rosemary LaBianca were successful business owners.  The two murders eventually became known as the "Tate-LaBianca Murders."

At both scenes, messages were written on the wall in the victim's blood:  "Pigs," "Piggies," and the now infamous "Helter Skelter" (misspelled by murderer Patricia Van Winkle as Healter Skelter with an extra "a").  "Helter Skelter" was the name of a song on the Beatle's White Album, along with "Revolution" and "Piggies."  This eventually becomes an important tidbit.

After quite the investigation and much piecing together of puzzle pieces, LA's police and sheriff's departments determined that cult leader, Charles Manson, a career criminal, and his followers known as "The Family" were behind these murders.  LA Deputy District Attorney, Vincent Bugliosi, finally brought this group to trial for the Tate-La Bianca murders.  He then wrote a book, Helter Skelter – The True Story of the Manson Murders – which I read for the first time in 1974 when the book was released. (I was in 10^th grade at the time, but what can I say – I was fascinated by this story.) In 1977, Bugliosi came to speak about the murders at my undergrad alma mater, Northern Michigan University – props to NMU for having him and okay, props to me for going. You might think that this is what eventually spurred me to start law school, but alas, kids, that didn't happen until 2001.  (PS—most of The Family was convicted although some made deals in exchange for testimony.)

So to fast forward just a bit here:  45 years have now gone by since the Tate-LaBianca murders.  (What would I do without People magazine reminding me of this?).  And that prompted me to re-read this 670 page tome.  And I have to tell you that this is one of the best "primers" for how to build a case and argue that case in court that I've ever read.  If we would have been assigned this book and this book alone in law school for my Criminal Law class instead of a boring case book, I would have been one, happy 1L (nickname for first year law students) camper!  Honestly, although the details of these murders are horrifying and the Manson family's capers were chilling, this was a riveting read.  That said, my husband chuckled at my whining:  "Oh My God!  I've been reading forever and I still have 400 pages to go!  I'll never finish!"  Then later on:  "Okay, only 300 pages to go.  I'm making progress!"  Still later:  "I'm within spitting distance – only 200 pages."  And once I got to the last 100, I was a woman on a mission, determined to finish this up ASAP.  It did not hurt that my book was due (second renewal, no less) two days after I turned the last page.  So I got 'er done just under the wire – whew.

At this point, I bet you're wondering when on earth I'll get to the point of this blog and this cookbook.  Patience, people, patience – we're almost there!

Over time, detectives and Bugliosi were able to make the connection to why Mason's Family attacked the people at 10050 Cielo Drive, particularly because none of "The Family" members had met any of the residents or their guests.  But Charles Manson did.   The person Charles met previously was Terry Melcher, Doris Day's son.  Terry was a record producer.  Terry previously rented 10050 Cielo Drive before Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski took over the lease.  Manson, thinking himself a man of considerable song-writing talent, yearned to make a but Melcher didn't concur and refused to record Manson.  Manson was more than a bit peeved.  And so to get back at Melcher, he ordered the attack (he didn't participate that night) on the people living at 10050 Cielo Drive. 

Also important to know:  Mason believed that "Helter Skelter," the name of the Beatles tune, signified the "revolution" of the black man rising up against the establishment.  Manson called the "establishment" (i.e. people who were better off than he was) "pigs" or "piggies."  (At the time, cops were often referred to as "pigs" and so the LAPD was understandably confused when the murders didn't have any connection to cops.)  And so that's what those words written in blood meant.  In Manson's mind, he planned to make it look like those killings were the acts of the black men who he would help with their revolution.  The only thing he accomplished was putting the fear of God into everyone in the Los Angeles area, particularly those in the movie or music industry.  And it didn't set too well with folks outside that LA area, either.

This brings us (at long last) to The Beatles. (Ta Da!) Manson worshipped The Beatles.  He thought that they were four angels (he was the fifth) and he pretty much ordered "The Family" to listen to their White Album for inspiration for all their soon-to-be criminal activities.  So when news reported all this, suddenly the White Album became the evil empire.  And while I was a little too young to be a die-hard Beatles fan, I also didn't see what all the fuss was about until this all erupted.  You'd have thought the Beatles were personally involved in the crimes for all the caterwauling that went on but you have to understand that people were very freaked out by this.  Actually, make that terrified.  In another ironic turn, Manson also happened to meet the Beach Boy's drummer, Dennis Wilson, while at a party attended by Terry Melcher.  So that tidbit hit the news as well.  And as a postscript, as hard as it might be to believe, Charles Manson songs were covered by several groups, most notably Guns and Roses.  I tell you what, I learn something every day.

So, the entire time I was re-reading Helter Skelter, I had an ear-worm going of many Beatles tunes including "Helter Skelter" (later covered by U2) and "Revolution," among others.  And OF COURSE I had a Beatles-related cookbook at the ready so I could tie the whole thing together.  Our author, Stephen J. Spignesi, took (mostly) Beatles tunes (or singles performed by Beatles members or by Paul McCartney's band, Wings) and fashioned them into recipes.  What I loved was his inclusion of Beatles songs that fell through my musical filter such as "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" (drink)," "Mean Mr. Mustard" (Mean Mr. Mustard Dip), or "Sun King" (cake).  Don't know as I ever heard those songs. 

Then there were songs that informed my childhood (in no particular order):  "Yellow Submarine" (Yellow Submarine Sandwich); "Come Together" (Crumb Together – cherry crumb cake); "Get Back" (Rosetta's Roaster Red Pepper Spread) (BTW, the author mentioned that Rosetta is only mentioned in the Let It Be LP. Loretta (make that "Sweet Loretta") is mentioned in all other versions), and "Lovely Rita" (Lovely Pita). 

And just like picking a favorite Beatles' song (I'm not sure I can), selecting a recipe proved to be a challenge.  Many items sounded good, some were eliminated because there wasn't much to the recipe and others were bounced because they weren't really Beatles tunes.  Like oh, say, the recipe we ended up making:  "Give Peace a Chance" was written and performed by John Lennon.  But my husband, Andy, liked the recipe (and the song) and that decided things so there you go.

Interesting tidbit:  John Lennon, his son, Sean, and I all share the same birthday – October 9^th.  Sadly, John Lennon was killed on December 8, 1980 the day before my brother's birthday on December 9^th.  Somehow, this felt like a death in the family.  And unbelievably, instead of – like the Manson murders – being "inspired" by Beatles music, Lennon's killer, Mark David Chapman, was inspired by J.D. Salinger's seminal book, The Catcher in the Rye.  Chapman apparently wanted to model his life like the main character, Holden Caulfield.  And in another one of those creepy moments somewhat emulating the Mason murders, Chapman stayed on the scene reading The Catcher in the Rye until the police came.  Makes you realize that while the vast majority of us are inspired to do good things due to reading a book or listening to music, a few whackadoodles (my friend, Ann's term) go in a very scary direction.

It is somewhat sadly ironic, then, that Lennon's anti-war/anti-killing song, "Give Peace a Chance," was the basis for today's featured recipe, "Give (Pasta and) Peas a Chance.

This recipe was easy to make but I can't say as I'd make it again, at least not without modifications, specifically, nixing the canned peas.  It's not that I hate canned peas; on the contrary, I love them.  But canned peas are super sweet and super mushy and I thought they overpowered the rest of the ingredients.  I was "this close" to using frozen peas but since I always remain true to the ingredients listed, I stuck with them this time around.

I was also not fond of using garlic powder, preferring instead to use garlic cloves but again, the recipe said to use powder so I did.

And finally, pancetta instead of Canadian bacon might have added more zip and been more traditional (to an Italian recipe for spaghetti carbonara) but again, pancetta wasn't called for so it wasn't used.

So we "gave peas a chance" and it was satisfying but I think I could – and probably you can – do better the next time around. 

BTW, was this cosmic, or what?  I was just on my way home from the grocery store, picking up these ingredients, when my favorite radio station – The Current (89.3—and you can and also should stream it online – Thecurrent.org) played Siouxsie and the Banshees' cover of the Beatles song "Dear Prudence."  Dear Prudence was also on the White Album.  Then this morning, The Current played The Beatles "I Saw Her Standing There" as well as "Paperback Writer."  And finally, one of the local magazines featured several local recording artists in a recent article, one of whom was Nicholas David, who some of you will remember from Season 3 of The Voice (he was one of the three finalists) in 2012.  But prior to his appearance on that show, I heard Nicholas sing The Beatles "Across the Universe" on The Current as part of a feature on artists who participated in the Minnesota Beatle Project.  Nicholas was on the very first year's (Vol. 1) album and I loved his cover of this song. 

So folks, you have a lot to do:  read the book - Helter Skelter - listen to the White Album, listen to a lot of other Beatles tunes, and check out the Minnesota Beatles Project.  Oh—and cook, naturally!

Give (Pasta and) Pease a Chance ("Give Peace a Chance") – serves 4

1 large onion

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 slices Canadian bacon, cut up into bite-sized pieces (Ann's Note:  You might want to try pancetta)

1 14.9-ounce can of peas (retain water) (Ann's Note:  definitely try frozen peas, adding a little water to emulate the canned peas)

1 8-ounce can of peas (drain water) (Ann's Note:  use the same amount of frozen peas)

Garlic powder, salt, pepper and grated cheese to taste (Ann's Note:  Instead of garlic powder, mince a few garlic cloves and sauté along with the onion)

2 medium eggs, beaten

½ pound spaghetti (broken in half)

Sauté the onion in the olive oil in a covered skillet until it's soft.  Add the Canadian bacon to the pan and cook, uncovered, until bacon is tender.  Slowly add the 2 cans of peas, including the water from the larger can, to the onions and bacon.  In a small bowl, add salt, pepper, and grated cheese to taste to the 2 beaten eggs.  When the pea-and-onion mixture begins to boil, add the seasoned eggs to the skillet.  Add a dash of garlic powder to taste and cook this mixture for about 10 minutes.  While this is cooking, boil the spaghetti to al dente texture in a large deep pot.  Drain the spaghetti and add the peas-and-onion mixture to it.  Toss together and serve with more grated cheese and a green salad.

"McCall's Illustrated Dinner Party Cookbook" - Old-World Lasagna

Date I made this recipe:  October 5, 2014

McCall's Illustrated Dinner Party Cookbook by the Food Editors of McCall's

Published by:  The McCall Publishing Company

© 1961 (renewed annually through 1970)

Purchased at Bonnie Slotnick's Cookbooks, NYC – July 2014

Recipe:  Old-World Lasagna – p. 47

Folks, it's not often that I need a moment while perusing cookbooks at Bonnie Slotnick's Cookbooks in NYC, but this time around I had to sit a spell to take in a fabulous find:  McCall's Illustrated Dinner Party Cookbook.  Because the second I found it, I was transported back to my childhood.

You see, my mom was a faithful McCall's (magazine) subscriber, and over the years, she clipped many of their illustrated recipes from the magazine, saving them in her own, personal collection.  But right there, in one bound cookbook, were all those recipes including my favorite, Old-World Lasagna. 

When mom died, I took all her cookbooks and her recipe cards and her clippings, and when I went through them, there it was – the original clipping of the Old-World Lasagna in mint (i.e. spotless) condition.  My mother never seemed to put so much as a drip of anything on her recipe cards and recipe clippings whereas mine looked like something nasty exploded nearby.  These days, I photocopy the recipe from the book and use that copy in my kitchen and I still get slop all over it.  I may emulate my mother in many ways but her neatness in the kitchen in not one of them.

Anyway, the minute I spied the lasagna recipe, I knew what I was going to make from that cookbook but still, I took a moment to look through the entire book. The illustrations, of course, make the whole thing worthwhile.  In fact, the illustrations are what drew me back to that recipe time and time again. 

Besides the recipes, the other thing that made me love McCall's was the Betsy McCall cut-out paper dolls.  I loved Betsy McCall!  Each month, Betsy (of indeterminate age) was featured along with a couple of outfits that I'm pretty sure could probably be purchased at some department store somewhere in America. Betsy, of course, had the coolest clothing and she was usually decked out in something pertaining to the month, season or theme like October's trick or treat for UNICEF.  I so wanted the Christmas outfits from the December 1969 issue it was ridiculous.

So there you go—cooking and fashion all in one fell swoop.  Awesome.

Another reason I made this recipe was to wax nostalgic about my upcoming birthday on October 9^th.  As is customary in many families, the birthday celebrant gets to pick the dinner meal for that day and I normally whittled it down to these:  my mother's meatloaf; scalloped potatoes and ham; mom's beef roast or lasagna.  Mind you, we enjoyed all of these on a regular rotation but I always thought they tasted better on my birthday!  In addition to the meal, my mom normally made an angel food cake, my favorite, with 7-Minute Frosting, also a favorite.  In the cake's center, she normally iced over a piece of cardboard cut to fit over the cake's opening and then placed a flower or two on top.  My favorites were always the big, Gerbera Daisies she picked from her garden (not to be confused with regular daisies which gave me a headache).  And with that my birthday celebration was complete!  (In addition, my mother could have walked straight out of McCall's magazine as she was always impeccably dressed so there's her fashion tie-in).

Regardless of whether or not it's somebody's birthday in your household, make this lasagna.  The sauce is close to what my mother made (except she didn't use pork in her sauce) and it provides great leftovers to be frozen for another day.  The only quibble I had with the recipe was the instruction to cook the sauce for three hours.  I cut it down to 1.5 and it was fine. 

So—there's my walk down nostalgia lane to quick off my birthday month.  Enjoy!

Old-World Lasagna – Makes 8 servings

For the tomato Sauce

¼ cup olive oil or salad oil (Ann's Note:  I used 1/8 and it was still a bit much)

½ cup finely chopped onion

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

½ lb ground chuck

¼ lb ground pork

1 can (2 lb, 3 oz) Italian tomatoes, undrained (Ann's Note:  I used 2 cans of diced tomatoes.  If you want to use whole tomatoes, I recommend putting them through a food mill to crush them, just like my mom used to do.)

2 cans (6-oz size) tomato paste

1 teaspoon dried basil leaves

2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves

1 tablespoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons sugar

(Ann's Note:  regarding salt and sugar, I am not big on salt so I put in about ½ tablespoon.  And when it comes to sugar, I like a tart tomato sauce and so I add it gradually until I get the flavor I'm looking for but that's just my style)

For the lasagna

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon olive oil or salad oil

½ package (1-lb size) lasagna noodles

1 lb ricotta cheese

1 lb Mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced

1 jar (3 oz) grated Parmesan cheese

Make the tomato sauce:  slowly heat oil in large, deep, heavy skillet.  In hot oil, sauté onion, garlic, and parsley until onion is tender – about 5 minutes.  Add chuck and pork to skillet.  Sauté meat, stirring occasionally, until it is well browned.

Add the rest of the sauce ingredients to skillet; stir to mix well.  Bring to boiling; reduce heat, and simmer, covered, 3 hours.  (Ann's Note:  1 ½ hours should do the trick.)  Stir sauce occasionally during cooking.

Once the sauce is done, cook lasagna noodles as directed.  McCall's recommends bringing 3 quarts of water and the salt to boiling.  Then add the olive oil.  (Ann's Note:  I never add olive oil to my pasta water – ever.  Sure, it keeps the noodles from sticking but you can do that yourself once you drain them.)  Add lasagna noodles, 2 or 3 pieces at a time, to the boiling water; then return water to boiling.  Cook noodles, uncovered, 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  (Ann's Note:  my box said cook for 10 minutes so I did.  Fifteen would have made them too mushy.)  Drain and rinse under hot water.

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Grease a 13-by-9-by-2-inch baking dish.

To assemble lasagna:  Spoon a little of the tomato sauce evenly into bottom of prepared dish.  Over sauce, layer a third each of noodles, ricotta, sauce, Mozzarella, and Parmesan.  Repeat layering twice, beginning with noodles and ending with Parmesan.

Bake, uncovered, 45 to 50 minutes, or until cheese is melted and the top is browned.

Let lasagna stand 10 to 15 minutes before cutting, to make serving easier.

"In the Kitchen with Miss Piggy" - Candice Bergen's Tortellini Salad in honor of Muppet creator, Jim Henson

Date I made this recipe:  September 28, 2014 (to celebrate Jim Henson's Birthday)

(People Weekly Presents) In the Kitchen with Miss Piggy – written and published by:  Jim Henson™, Jim Henson Publishing; People Weekly, People Magazine; Time®Life Books, Time-Life Books

ISBN:  072440-10640-6; copyright 1996

Purchased at Succotash, a very cool retro store in St. Paul – 781 Raymond Ave

Recipe:  Candice Bergen's Tortellini Salad – p. 30

So.  Miss Piggy.  One of The Muppets.  One of The Muppets on the TV show, The Muppets, a show I never watched.  Oh, I was familiar with it to be sure, but that show premiered the year I graduated from high school so.... And I never watched Sesame Street, either, which is where Muppet creator, Jim Henson, got his start.  Miss Piggy's love interest, Kermit the Frog, was one of Henson's original Sesame Street characters.  Miss Piggy though, was only on The Muppets (as well as starring on the big screen in The Muppet movies). And so I don't have much to say about Sesame Street or The Muppets although I can wax nostalgic forever  and ever about how I feel about Captain Kangaroo, my childhood hero.  I especially loved Bunny Rabbit and now that I'm older, would really kill to wear Bunny Rabbit's glasses but alas, they don't look good on me.  Anyway...

Muppet creator/puppeteer, Jim Henson's birthday was September 24, and so in his honor, I cooked from In the Kitchen with Miss Piggy cookbook.  Poor Miss Piggy – she's forever mooning over Kermit the Frog, "Kermi," as she calls him, but her love is not returned.  As Kermit knows, "It's not easy being green," and it's not easy to be the object of Miss Piggy's affection but it is darned cute to watch. 

And since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Miss Piggy should be tickled to know that many years ago, one of my friends dressed up as Miss Piggy for Halloween, right down to the (pig) nose, the ears and the gloves.  I believe she also added pearls as they were a Miss Piggy fashion statement at the time.  This cookbook contains several photos of Miss Piggy along with several tidbits of advice from "Moi," as Miss Piggy calls herself.

Since Miss Piggy is uber popular, all kinds of celebrities have appeared with her on The Muppets:  Whoopie Goldberg, Katie Couric, Brooke Shields, and so on and so on and many of them also contributed to this cookbook.  This made it difficult for "moi" to choose which one to make as I didn't want to leave anybody out; Miss Piggy wouldn't.  But alas folks, I needed to choose just one and so I did – eventually.

As I said in last week's blog, the weather at this time of year makes it especially challenging to find just the right fit.  In fact, I feel like Goldilocks and The Three Bears, trying to decide which one was "too hot, too cold or just right."

For the longest time, Whoopie Goldberg's Peas Porridge Hot, Peas Porridge Cold soup was in the running but then time sort of ran out on the fresh vegetable cycle so I back-burned that.  Then I was stuck on Glenn Close's Chicken, Mushroom, and Barley Stew, except by the time I got around to making it, it was too hot for soup.  Samuel L. Jackson's Spinach Linguine and Ground Turkey Sauce was in the running for a brief bit but again, was beat out by the weather and so long story, short – Candice Bergen's Tortellini Salad won out.  I don't know as I ever spent so much time debating about what to make and of course, by that time, Jim Henson's birthday had come and gone.  I wish him a heavenly belated birthday.

I can see why Miss Piggy included Candice Bergen in her cookbook as Candice is a great actress, just like our Miss Piggy.  Although Candice made a name for herself in movies, and more recently, as part of the cast of Boston Legal, I loved her in the TV show, Murphy Brown.

One of the running jokes of the show was that hard-hitting newswoman, Murphy Brown, was so hard to please that she went through about a secretary a day.  Wikipedia reported that 93 secretaries came and went during the run of the show. Many a (now) famous actor and actress was one of Murphy's casualties but I do recall that she liked actor Paul Reubens (a/k/a "Pee-wee" Herman) because he always called her "Miss Brown."  In one memorable scene, reporter Frank Fontana tried to take a doughnut "Pee Wee" brought for Murphy and "Pee-wee" chastised him by saying "Is your name Miss Brown?"  (Side note:  one of the companies I used to work for also had trouble finding a receptionist at the front desk, prompting me to joke that the receptionist du jour was just another Murphy Brown secretary.) 

Out of all the episodes in the series, the two that still make me chuckle are when Murphy was a bridesmaid in Corky Sherwood Forrest's wedding (Season 2, Episodes 48 and 49:  Going to the Chapel, Parts 1 and 2) (OMG, that bridesmaids dress!) and of course, the most-well known of all the Murphy Brown episodes, Season 4, episode 26 – Birth 101.  In one scene, we return to Murphy's hospital room where, while in labor, and if memory serves, she has Frank and Miles (Silverberg, her producer) by the throat and is banging their heads up and down on the hospital bed while yelling "You son of a bitch!" After she is done with her tirade, she releases them and they fall to the floor, probably grateful to have lived to breathe another breath.  Hilarious. Even today, I cannot stop laughing every time I think of that scene, and if you ask me, and you didn't, that goes in the Candice Bergen Hall of Fame. 

As to her recipe, it was good but were I to make it again, I'd want to make some adjustments.  Generally, you cannot go wrong by boiling some tortellini, nor can you go wrong with adding vegetables to them.  Where this recipe went slightly wonky though, was in the interpretation of the following:  "Grill or broil the bell peppers, zucchini, and onion until well browned and tender."  Okay, did that.  But my broiled vegetables in no way resembled the seemingly crisp ones featured in the photo that accompanied the recipe.  I wondered about that before I set out to make the dish and here's what I think:  I think not grilling or broiling the peppers will yield just as tasty of a result as grilling or broiling them.  In fact, I contemplated using fresh vegetables but in order to be true to the recipe, I followed her directions.  The result was not bad and in fact, I kind of liked my very tender, broiled veggies but that might just be me.

As to the vinaigrette, I liked it but felt that even a quarter of a cup of oil was a tad too much.  I recommend starting with one-eighth cup and see how that works for you.

All in all, this is a fun cookbook and a fun trip down memory lane for me with Candice Bergen.  "Moi" loves Candice Bergen.  Miss Piggy also loves Candice Bergen.  Many people love Miss Piggy AND Candice Bergen.  So there you go – enjoy!

Candice Bergen's Tortellini Salad – serves 4

1 small yellow or red bell pepper, halved and seeded

1 small green bell pepper, halved and seeded

1 small zucchini, halved lengthwise

½ small red onion, cut into thick rings

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest (optional)

¼ cup olive oil or vegetable oil

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

½ teaspoon dillweed

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Pinch of sugar

1 ½ cups dried cheese-filled tortellini (about 6 ounces)

5 cherry tomatoes, halved

3 scallions, finely chopped

Grill or broil (Ann's Note:  Or don't!) the bell peppers, zucchini and onion until well browned and tender.  Chop them into bite-sized pieces.  Set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Meanwhile, place the lemon juice and zest (if using) in a large salad bowl.  Whisk in the oil, mustard, dillweed, salt, pepper, and sugar to make the vinaigrette.

Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente, 10 to 12 minutes, or according to the package directions.

Drain the pasta and add it to the vinaigrette.  Add the grilled vegetables, tomatoes, and scallions.  Toss well to combine.  Serve the salad warm or at room temperature.