A Family Tradition

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This will probably seem an anachronism in this day of tasty box cakes, but it's still the chocolate cake of choice at my house. It descends (as far as I know) from my great-grandmother, Emma Liddle of Argyle, NY, where, for generations, the family owned a dairy farm.

I've heard a few stories about life on the farm, but not really enough. Why wasn't I paying better attention when I was a kid?) The barn was down the road almost a quarter mile from the house, and it could snow like hell, then as now. It could be a trek at 5 a.m. in January when it was snowing, sleeting, blowing--especially before President Roosevelt's Rural Electrification Project had reached the wilds of Washington County. Those cows always need to be milked twice a day no matter what. 

I have my Aunt Juliet to thank for passing this recipe along to me, although my Mother, Grandma Liddle and Aunt Jeanie also prepared it. It has a moist, tender crumb, and, frankly, it doesn't last long at a family gathering.

Grandmother Liddle's Chocolate Cake   

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soda
6 Tablespoons cocoa
1 1/2 cups buttermilk*
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 egg

Sift together four, sugar, salt soda and cocoa. In a large bowl mix buttermilk, vegetable oil, vanilla and egg. Add dry ingredients and beat by hand. Pour into greased 9 inch square pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes or until cake tests done. You may also use a 9 X 13 sheet pan, but the batter will be thinner, so you need to watch closely to be sure it doesn't overbake.

* If you want to make this recipe but lack buttermilk, pour one tablespoon of white vinegar or one tablespoon of lemon juice into the bottom of a measuring cup, then add milk to make one cup and use that instead. You can also substitute one cup of yogurt for buttermilk.

The original frosting for this cake was a thin lemon-juice & rind confectioner's sugar glaze. 

My Aunt Judy offered a another, more sumptuous frosting recipe. 

Judy Hennessy's Fudge Frosting

1 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 squares semi-sweet or bitter chocolate
1/3 cup milk
2 Tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla 

Combine sugar, flour and salt. Add milk and place on heat. As the mixture warms, add chocolate squares and stir until boiling. Continue cooking--and don't stir--until it reaches soft ball stage ( a drop in a cup of cold water will tell the tale). Remove from heat, add butter and then vanilla, beating until it is stiff enough to spread. 

You may also take peppermint patties (judge the number from the size of your cake pan) and set them atop the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven. As they melt, spread them gently over the top. 


A friend suggests we start calling this "Gratitude Day" instead of "Thanksgiving." I like the idea. 

I'm trying to begin a practice of being grateful every morning for something as I get out of bed. Often, it's gratitude simply because I CAN get out of bed. As I get older that's one thing I've learned--not to take anything for granted.

Happy Holidays to everyone, wherever they are!

~~Juliet Waldron

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An Acadian Recipe by Diane Scott Lewis

In my novel, On a Stormy Primeval Shore, set in New Brunswick, one of my main characters is an Acadian man, which prompted me to research the history of these people.
Novel blurb:

In 1784, Englishwoman Amelia Latimer sails to the new colony of New Brunswick in faraway Canada. She’s to marry a man chosen by her soldier father. Amelia is repulsed by her betrothed, and refuses to marry him. She is attracted to a handsome Acadian trader, Gilbert, a man beneath her in status. Gilbert must fight the incursion of English Loyalists from the American war to hold onto his land and heritage. Will he and Amelia find peace when events seek to destroy their love and lives.




Available January 2018
Pre-order NOW (link below)

In the 1600's, when France conquered the eastern area of what is now Canada, they called it New France. The settlers were mostly soldiers, farmers and crafts people. They brought their food traditions from rural areas of France, and soon added the foodstuffs, such as corn, moose and black bear, found in this new land.

The staple of the Acadians, as the settlers became known as, was herring, cod, potatoes and pork. Eventually the French recipes disappeared into the local traditions, as purely Acadian. A typical dish is a one pot meal called Fricot, consisting of meat--usually chicken--potatoes, a hearty broth and dumplings (poutines).

For festive occasions, a Pâté à la Râpure or "rappie pie" is still popular in New Brunswick. Grated potatoes are layered with meat or fowl and broth all baked to a golden brown.

Recipe:

1 five pound fowl, chopped

3 medium onions

1 medium carrot

1 celery stalk

2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 pound finely diced salt pork

15 medium potatoes (about 8 pounds)

Combine ingredients, boil until tender, remove fowl's skin and bones, grate potatoes, layer fowl and potatoes and bake at 400 degrees for thirty minutes, then at 350 until crusty brown (two more hours). Of course in the 18th century when my novel takes place, they'd have baked in an iron pot in the fireplace hearth.

For more detailed instructions, click link below for Acadian.org.

Source: Acadian.org

On a Stormy Primeval Shore Pre-order: click HERE

Diane Scott Lewis grew up in California, traveled the word with the navy, edited for magazines and an on-line publisher. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband.

For more info on my novels, please visit my BWL author page
or my website: Diane Scott Lewis

Decadent Delights for Any Season by Victoria Chatham

The days when I catered for myself, three children, four boarders and three dogs are long gone but memories of a small, steamy, productive kitchen remain. My kitchen at that time would, if squared up, have been approximately 8 feet by 8 feet in size. In fact, a marketing expert for a kitchen installation business once referred to it as a cubbyhole, not a kitchen.

However, I had the basics: stove, sink, fridge and a twin-tub washing machine that did double duty as my counter space. Meals for 8 people came out of that kitchen every day, with more on Sundays with the addition of family and friends. Everyone, of course, expected pudding after the main meal. 

These traditional English puddings ranged from simple milk puddings like rice and tapioca to fruit pies with custard, the more exotic steamed sponge puddings, especially Spotted Dick, baked egg custard, crème brulee and crème caramel. 

Spotted Dick

In summertime, lighter fare of jellies, fruit fools, trifles, fruit flans, crumbles and torts, lemon meringue pies and Queen of Puddings were included on the menu. Oh yes, and all this was from scratch, nothing came out of a packet.

Queen of Puddings

The tradition of the great English pudding faded as more and more people joined the workforce and would not spend the time on making them. Then there were all the ‘no fat’ or ‘low fat’ food fads which cut out the kind of fats, which science now says we need, so people stopped using butter and shredded suet in these dishes. Cheesecakes were a later addition to the dessert and pudding menu, but the household Christmas favorite, after Christmas pudding with brandy butter or Cornish clotted cream, was Bailey’s Cheesecake.

I believe everyone must be familiar with Bailey’s, that wonderful blend of Irish whiskey and cream. It’s great on its own and can be served in a variety of cocktail mixes, but it also adds a little kick to many recipes. My favorite cheesecakes are always baked cheesecakes and this is my recipe.  

Ingredients:

Bailey's Cheesecake

1 cup of coarse graham cracker crumbs

¼ cup of butter, melted

1 (15 oz) carton of ricotta cheese

1 (8 oz) package of Philadelphia cream cheese

4 eggs, lightly beaten

½ cup of sugar

1/3 cup of Bailey’s Irish Cream Liqueur

1 tsp. good vanilla

¼ tsp. salt

Combine the crumbs and butter, press over the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Chill.

Beat together the ricotta and cream cheese until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients, beating until smooth. Pour the mixture over the crumb base. Bake in a pre-heated 325-degree oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until firm in the middle. Cool for 20-30 minutes before removing from the pan. Cool completely before serving. Decorate with whipped cream swirls, topped with shaved, dark chocolate and cherries. Serves 8 – maybe.

Why don't you give it a try? I bet it will become one of your favorites, too.