Waiter, there's a carrot in my soup

I made a batch of carrot soup last night. Why would I do that, you ask? Well, long ago, I visited Ireland on a really horrible package vacation. One of the few highlights of that trip was dinner in a medieval castle where they served carrot soup. I'd never had it before and it was delicious - although maybe I was just starving from all the blood sausage and dry brown bread we were served, bleh. Anywho, I've thought about that soup now and then through the years and occasionally tried to recreate it.

Alas and alack, last night's soup wasn't a recreation, because it had a goodly portion of curry. But I thought it was tasty. Unfortunately, I was the only one that thought so. NR and Hubby said Uh uh. Oh well. For those interested in getting in some veggies without cream or cheese, here's what I made. It makes a ton of soup, so if you like it, you can always freeze the leftovers and save it for knights when you are busy storming the castle. Get it? Knights? Ah, I just slay myself. TeeHee...

Ye Olde Curried Carrot Soup

1/2 onion, chopped
3 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons curry
2 tsp salt (or more to taste)
1 tsp pepper
2 qts chicken stock
2 cups water
2 pounds carrots, peeled, rough chopped

Melt the butter in a stock pot. Add onion, saute for 2 or 3 minutes. Add spices, cook another minute. Add stock, water and carrots. Simmer for 30 minutes or until carrots are tender. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until smooth. Serve with crackers. Note: If you use a regular blender, whirl it in small batches and never fill your blender to the top - hot liquids expand. Be careful!

Gingerbread - gum drops optional

"And I had but one penny in the world
Thou should'st have it to buy gingerbread"
--William Shakespeare
Love's Labours Lost

Wow, that's some sweet tooth that Will had on him. I like gingerbread as well as the next gal but I usually don't think about it until December. For those who care about such things, there is much history of this little sweet out there waiting for the googling. One thing I didn't know was that in Germany long ago, only Gingerbread guilds could bake the precious Lebkuchen. Oh, those zany, organized Germans. The story of Hansel and Gretel also inspired the gingerbread houses that pop up this time of year.

So, what are we waiting for? Get those oven warmed up and make up a batch of your favorite Gingerbread recipe. Don't have a favorite recipe? Never fear, Martha is here with hers.

Goodbye, Gayle

My mother-in-law passed away over the weekend. We found out on Monday and things have been topsy-turvy since then. She was 73 and a long time smoker, so we think that was the cause but we'll know more in a few days.

I debated whether to post anything about this. I've only met her a few times and though she seemed to be a lovely woman, I really didn't know her that well. She gave me an art nouveau style necklace once worn by her mother, which I dearly love. She was funny, with a quirky sense of humor. Her relationship with my husband was certainly different from the one I share with my mom, but it appeared to suit them both.

In my life, it seems that people pass in the winter. I'm not sure why that should be; I haven't done any research on statistics to bear this out, but it just seems to be the case. The holidays are always tempered in our household because of it - we celebrate the season but we mourn those who are gone from the table.

I hope I can help my husband through this, though I certainly have no expertise in grief counseling. But I'd like to keep her memory alive and help him to remember the times in their lives that were special to them.

Goodbye, Gayle. Your family misses you.

Flannel - not just for sheets anymore

My bedroom gets cold in the winter. I'm talking "Is a window open?" cold. The room has lots of windows and the house is old, so heat just moseys on up and out of the room. Consequently, I have a thing about being cold when I go to sleep. Now granted, the chattering teeth make a nice white noise, but icicle toes just are no fun. So, on come the flannel sheets. Flannel is great, at least for those who don't have allergy issues due to lint. Perusing Wikipedia, as I often do, for information on the origins of flannel (yes, I am that weird), I found a curious little list of famous flannel wearers. Taken straight from the source, here are some famous folks who dig flannel as a garment:
Filmmaker George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars saga.
Neil Young, guitar player, singer and songwriter
Lead singer and guitarist from Nirvana, Kurt Cobain
Eddie Vedder, lead singer of Pearl Jam
Grunge/Metal band Alice in Chains
Mick Foley in the persona of Cactus Jack, a WWF/WWE hardcore wrestler who wears red flannel as part as ring attire
Rory Gallagher, the Irish-born blues guitarist.
Duane Allman, guitarist for The Allman Brothers Band.
Mike Watt, bassist for The Minutemen, Firehose, The Stooges, and various other bands.
Phil Anselmo, in a handful of early-to-mid 90's promo photos with Pantera, Anselmo was photographed wearing flannel shirts.
John Linnell, lead singer of They Might Be Giants
Larry The Cable Guy, American stand up comedian and actor
Matt Corby, contestent of 2007 Australian Idol
Dr. Steve Hoeltzel, American Philosopher

Personally, I really only dig flannel in its bedsheet form, but who am I to question such luminaries as Larry the Cable Guy and Eddie Vedder when it comes to warm and fuzzy fashion. So, maybe I need to look around for some flannel socks to complement my sheet set.

Household: 50s magazine fun

I was so excited to go to the mailbox today and find my eBay acquisition, a magazine from 1957 titled "Household". I love old magazines - the ads are often hilarious and the articles and photos provide some interesting looks into another age. I was especially excited to find this period magazine on eBay (I have a couple other issues on their way, yippee!). Ok, so it doesn't take much to excite me. But so you don't feel left out, I will be sharing some gems of wisdom from these magazines. Talk about Nostalgic Homemaking:
From Household (August 1957) - Freezer news
* Custard pies do not freeze well either before or after baking, but pumpkin pies are satisfactory if frozen before they are baked.
* Frozen layer cake batter may be put in the oven directly from the freezer or it may be thawed for about 30 minutes at room temperature.
* Seven-minute frostings become frothy and spongy when frozen.
* Mrs. Lewis Young of New Carlisle Ohio recommends frying frozen corn on the cob in her deep fryer. She defrosts them 3 to 4 hours and frys 2 or 3 ears at one time at 375 degrees for 4 minutes. (I wouldn't try this; I fear exploding corn.)

The Bombe Alaska on the cover just screams Fifties to me. It is so technicolor. I may just have to plan a 50s party and serve this as the big finish.

Random Recipe Monday - Burnt Sugar Cake

Here's another 1940s cake for you to check out. I haven't made it yet, but I am going to this week. I love creme brulee, so I hope this has a bit of that flavor:

2 cups sugar
1 cup boiling water
3 cups sifted cake flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup shortening
4 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla

Place 1 cup of the sugar in a skillet and heat, stirring constantly until sugar melts and becomes brown; remove from heat, add boiling water and stir until sugar is entirely dissolved. Cool. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Cream shortening with remaining sugar until fluffy. Add unbeaten egg yolks, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each is added. Add vanilla. Add sifted dry ingredients and caramel sirup alternately in small amounts beating thoroughly after each addition. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Pour into greased pan and bake in moderate oven (350 degrees) 30 to 35 minutes. Makes 3 9-inch layers.

Recipe, Shmecipe...

Recipes are for sissies. Ok, not really. But there are plenty of folks who cook just wonderfully without a written recipe. These folks know exactly how much flour for perfect pancakes, how many eggs for that birthday cake, how much salt is in a pinch, and so on. Diametrically opposed to the precision of those who follow the letter of the culinary law, these folks wing it. Willy-nilly, they add their spices, never getting a recipe exactly the same twice. Yet somehow, it all works out. "It's a mystery" comes to mind (cue Shakespeare in Love theme song)but it isn't a fluke. People who cook without recipes have innate senses, seasoned through time and practice, about what makes a dish "right". My grandmother (when she still cooked) was one of these folks. Recipes weren't something she really utilized much. Maybe if she saw something on a cooking program, she'd jot down the ingredients, but probably not the amounts. She cooked by taste, by sight and by memory. Now granted, she wasn't making really complicated, Martha Stewart-style dishes; just good old comfort food like roast, gravy, cakes, and the like.

So I wonder, does abandoning recipes give more or less freedom to the cook? For me, I tend to use recipes as guidelines, rather than rules (cue Pirates of the Carribbean music), unless the dish is something complicated or precise, like baking. But I tend to swap out items at will, add more salt or change the cooking time, if I disagree with the recipe. Generally, this works out ok, occasional flops aside. I find for me that distance between the dish and the recipe does give me freedom but I like having the safety net there, just in case. For people who never use recipes, I have to wonder if they are limiting their repetoire to those dishes that they know well or that are family favorites. How much improvising do non-recipe cooks do on their own? Are recipes the equivalent of a sewing pattern - making the cook either a manufacturer if they use one and a designer if they don't? Not being a designer, I would only guess that all design is based on some basic principles, that once mastered can be bent or tweaked (or even broken). I think cooking is the same (cue Project Runway video).

Ok, so once again, I fail to pick a side on the issue of Recipe - Yes or No. I guess I'm too much of an Aquarian. But since my cooking style is quasi-free form, I guess my opinion on this is too. Who knows, who cares - pass me some cake.