Oh, Wilgo

Tonight, I made one of Mary's recipes for coffee cake to bring to my cousin's 15th birthday party on Sunday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILLIAM (aka Will, aka Wilgo)

 

 William and Mary (1996)

By no means do I feel old, but I remember when William was born! Now he is 15 years old, in high school, and talking about girls!

The recipe that I found for his brunch birthday came out great. I can't quite make out who's coffee cake recipe it is...I think it says Blanch. Whoever it belongs to, it is apparently "Very Good" according to Mary's note on the recipe card.

B (can't read name) Coffee Cake

(written on plain recipe card in green ink)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup walnuts (broken)

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

2 cups flour

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

Combine in a small bowl 1/2 cup walnuts (broken), 1/2 cup sugar,

1 tsp cinnamon

In a large bowl, beat together 1/2 cup shortening and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add

2 cups flour

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

and beat until well blended. Beat 3 minutest longer.

Spread 1/2 batter into greased 9inch tube pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 nut mixture. Spread on remaining batter and top with rest of mixture. Bake @ 55 minutes, until cake tester comes out clean. Remover from pan. Makes about 10 servings. 

Now of course I wrapped it up before taking a picture, so I will have to add it later. Drink choice of the night is some delicious $3 wine from Trader Joe's...you can't go wrong with good $3 wine! :)

"Cousin to Cousin...

we'll always be special friends from the same family tree"

That lame-o saying was on a pillow that my cousins gave me (as a joke) for Christmas when I was in college. I have this extremely extra-ordinary relationship with my cousins, especially my cousin Alison and Nicholas. Growing up as an only child, my cousins were the closest things to a brother/sister relationship that I had. Now as adults, we talk on a regular basis, occasionally fight like siblings and I spend probably 2 afternoons/nights a week at Alison's.

Both of them had a very similar relationship with Mary that I had, spending nights over her house and getting special treats that weren't allowed by their mother!  I will always remember the months after Mary's passing that I spent with my cousins reflecting on her life and eating apple pie and Entenmanns pastry on her birthday.

Now, one of the cousins (Nicholas) is getting married!

Lindsay and Nicholas (aka Diddy)

Tomorrow is Linsday's bridal shower, so I am baking up a storm . In order to make sure that Mary is "present" at the shower and well represented, I decided to make her Dubes:


Dubes (aka Peach Blossoms aka Peanut Blossoms)
(written on a fruit adorned recipe card)

1/2 cup shortening, softenened
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
1 3/4 cup flour
chocolate kisses

Combine all ingredients except kisses in a large bowl. Mix at lowest speed until dough forms. Shape dough into balls using a tsp for each ball. Roll in sugar and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Top each cookie immediately with a chocolate kiss. Allow to cool completely.

In addition to the Dubes, I made Nutella Cookies....

 (Nutella cookies on left and Dubes on right)

 Whiskey Apple Pie (for Matt's football game tomorrow)...

and Pumpkin Spice Bars (no picture).


all done in very styling baking attire....a beautiful new apron from my mom! 

Hermits baked by a hermit

It is a very windy day here on the North Shore. After doing all of the usual adult morning activities (laundry and grocery shopping), I decided to hunker down in my pajamas and shut out the chaos of Salem for awhile. Today I baked one of my top favorite cookies by Mary: Hermits!

The actual recipe is called the Harwich Hermit. After doing a little investigation, it turns out that this cookie dates back to the 1800s. It is believed that seamen took these cookies with them on trading ships because the dried fruit in the cookie kept them soft and fresh tasting for an extended time. Some say that the name hermit refers to the cookies long-keeping nature--they're best when hidden away like a hermit for several days and Harwich comes from Harwich, MA which is in Cape Cod...one of Mary's favorite places!

Hermits
(recipe cut out of newspaper and glued onto recipe card)
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup molasses
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp mace
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 cup raisins

Heat oven to 350. Butter and flour a 13X9 inch baking pan
Beat the butter with the sugar until creamy
Beat in the eggs and molasses and blend well
Sift the flour with the salt, baking powder, and spices and stir into butter mixture until batter is smooth
Stir in raisins
Pour into prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes
Allow to cool completely before cutting

I made two batches of these cookies. The recipe called for 15 minutes of baking, but the first batch of cookies came out very chewy. The second batch I cooked for about 20 minutes and they came out much better.

The city is alive with the sound of tourists

     It is officially October in Salem. The streets are crammed with tourists, monster mash music radiates throughout the city, and a destination that took 2 minutes to drive to now takes 30 minutes. Halloween has become a buzz kill for most of Salem residents and all of our usual weekend spots are unattainable until November 1st. Rather than fighting off masses wearing witches hats, I stayed in and baked.
     I wanted to try a few recipes that I was not very familiar with, but that many of the family members had been asking about. For my cousin Alison, I made Mary's Filled Cookies..

Filled Cookies
(written on a recipe card with a Dutch Couple holding cooking utensils?)

Filling:
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1tsp vinegar
1 1/2 cups raisins
2 tbsp flour mixed with a little water

Mix together and boil slowly until mixture thickens. Cool

Cookie
1 cup sugar
 1/2 cup shortening
1 egg beaten
1/2 cup milk
 3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
dash of salt

Mix ingredients together and roll out dough. Cut 2 inch circles and place on cookie sheet. Fill each cookie with raisin filling and top with another cookie to make a sandwich. Bake for 12 minutes at 375 degrees.

Makes very best cookie (written on bottom of card)

I had never had these cookies before so I don't have anything to compare them to, but they were tasty. My husband said that they taste like pop tart...OK, but no.


I also made Pumpkin Raisin Bread. This was my first attempt at a yeast bread without Mary so I was a little nervous, but it came out great! While making this recipe, I noticed that for the first time since starting this endeavor, the kitchen smelled just like Mary's. For me, her house always smelled like a mixture of yeast, flour and pumpkin.

Raisin Pumpkin Bread
(cut from newspaper and glued onto a recipe card adorned with fruit)

1 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup margarine
1 cup pumpkin
2 eggs (at room temperature)
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 packages active dry yeast
1 cup raisins
6-7 cups flour

Combine milk, water, and margarine in a saucepan and heat until lukewarm. Pour into mixing bowl, add eggs, pumpkin, sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, yeast, and 1 cup of flour and beat for 2 minutes with electric beater. Add raisins. Stir. Then, stirring by hand, gradually add the balance of the flour until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl.
Place dough on lightly floured board and knead for 7 to 8 minutes, adding only enough flour to the board to keep the dough from sticking. Place in greased bowl, turning over to grease top, cover and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk. Punch down, remove from bowl and cut into 2 or 3 pieces, depending upon whether you want to make 2 large or 3 small loaves. Place in greased bread pans, cover, and let rise until double in bulk. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until done. Remove immediately from pans and cool on a wire rack.

YUM!

A little cocktail note as well. When we were having dinner a few weeks ago at the home of my bestest and her hubby, they whipped us up a wonderful autumnal treat:

1/2 bottle of Sam Adams October fest

 mixed with 1/2 bottle of Woodchuck Hard Cider

It was delicious! Not light on the thighs by any means, but it was worth the splurge!

Baking and wine are like Yoga for the mind

Today was the first really cold and rainy day this fall. After work, I skipped the gym and came home to turn on the heat, poor a glass of wine, and bake some cookies. As I was baking, I was thinking about how this project goes against the grain of what  America is trying to do...eat healthier! Baking all of these delicious treats (and drinking the liquor) goes against my own ongoing attempt at a healthy life style. But you know? Today was Monday, the kids couldn't have recess to get out all of their energy and wine was necessary...as were the baked goods! Baking and wine are like Yoga for the mind. Mary would have done the same!

I wanted to whip up a quick cookie recipe that I could make before Matt jetted off to the football game and that I could finish before having to do more school work. I found Mary's recipe for Oatmeal Cookies...another round of Guess how we make that recipe!

As you can see from the recipe there is no explanation on what to mix what what first. That's fine, I can deal with that. But hey...What temperature? How long should they be baked for? Do you want them on a greased or ungreased cookie sheet? 

I played around with a few trays I think I got it:

Oatmeal Cookies

(written on recipe card with an Italian motif)

1 cup sugar

1 cup shortening, softened

2 eggs beaten

4 tbsp milk

1tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups flour

2 cups oats

1 cup raisins

combine sugar, butter, eggs, and milk. Add dry ingredients. Drop cookies by teaspoonful on GREASED cookie sheet. Dip knife in cold water and spread each cookie out (I didn't do this...I just stuck with the "Drop" explanation in the title). Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees

And the ingredients are???

Despite the 80 degree weather yesterday, fall is in the air. The start of fall marks the start of some of Mary's best bread and cookie recipes! Since beginning this endeavor, I have been waiting to make her Pumpkin Bread!
I was faced with a bit of a challenge when trying to bake this recipe. Mary had nice handwriting, but many of her abbreviated words are difficult to read. Nothing, however, compared to this recipe which had originally been written by Mary and then re-written by my mother....with the ingredients either missing or repeated.

exhibit A:

 

As you can see, baking soda is written 3 times and apparently you are supposed to add 2 cups of ????

After some research, I think I came up with the correct proportions:

1 cup pumpkin

4 eggs, beaten

1 1/4 cups oil

2 cups sugar

3 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking powder

Mix eggs, sugar, oil, and pumpkin. Add the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients. Bake for  1 hour at 350 degrees. 

The amount of mixture seemed to be too much for one pan, so I divided it into 2 loaves.

Despite having to guess on this recipe, it ended up being very tasty. I cooked the loaves for @ 40-50 minutes.