4-H Massachusetts 1936 Head Heart Hands and Health

Most of the blog from New England Recipes is because it helps me connect to my mother who was the best baker in the family and the best cook.  It was funny when I came across an old scrapbook of hers from when she was about eleven years old.  Looks like she won prizes even at an early age.  Yet, it was sad to look at the memories because of course I didn't know her then, but also because she is not here now.  She was a very humble woman with many accomplishments, but looking back at her girlhood scrapbook made me think of her as a young child and love her more. 

• Head - Managing, Thinking
• Heart - Relating, Caring
• Hands - Giving, Working
• Health - Being, Living

Here she wins First Prize four years in a row, I only captured three in the photo.  The prize was for muffins.  Actually, I remember her blueberry muffins.  I wonder if it was those that won.  I have to look for more papers and maybe find the prized muffin recipe! 

She saved the dish her muffins were served on, and that made me have tears in my eyes.  As my Mom, she was always just matter of fact and never boasted or bragged, but looking at the scrapbook made me think she was proud of the muffins and her participation.  I wish I knew her then of course not possible, since I'm her daughter. I don't think the flag picture was in 4-H, but St. Cecilia's Band would be my guess.

Wow!  I need to be retired, so I can go through all this amazing family history.

New England Clam Fritters

 A few weeks ago, we talked a bit about old New England and Maine lobster recipes and next up
is to post old clam recipes.  First is the Clam Fritters, which are so cool. 

Every 4th of July my Mom would make a feast to feed the nation. Besides, ordinary cookout foods, she made steamers and clam fritters.

This is the recipe for the Clam Fritters. They are just delicious, nothing like a clam cake. You can make the batter up ahead of time and refrigerate, just leave out the baking powder until nearly when you are ready to fry them. This will ensure they puff up nice and light. Another note: The recipe is old and reads 'clam liquor'. that is the juice from the clams and if you are not using your own steamed clams and that from a can, you can add some that 'juice' or the clam broth from a bottle purchased in any store.   Perhaps this 4th of July, I will take a picture. But for now, for you old-fashioned from scratch homesteading type cooks, here is the recipe:

To update these, you can make them a bit smaller and serve like ciccheti on serving dishes, or add to a pop stick. 

Planting a small garden for fall harvest In New England short summer

If I want to do some serious canning and preserving, I first need a garden.

I started two weeks ago, the top picture is the beginning. The bottom picture in the first strip is two weeks later. It's such a short season, so I'm hoping some quality vegetables can be derived from my little garden.

I started with tomato plants, cucumbers and mint. Then, I added three more tomato plants in buckets. The cherry tomato plant moved to the end of the driveway and is growing so fast. Then, today I added basil and rosemary to the raised bed and some lavender to one of the pots near the bush tomato plant.
I added Coast of Maine quoddy lobster compost which is organic. From their website description.
"Quoddy Blend is made from composted crab, lobster and aspen bark. The crab and lobster shells are a rich source of calcium and chitin, the aspen bark a source of tannins and lignins. It's a blend that's perfect for your vegetable garden, especially for your tomatoes! The calcium content is beneficial for lilacs and roses too."

The first part of the garden beginning is on this blog.

So, I'm making an heirloom Recipe book

 
So, I'm making an heirloom recipe book for my son, nieces and nephews. I've been taking a break from this for about five months.  A month or so ago, I started thinking about Corned Beef and Cabbage, a traditional Irish American boiled dinner, especially if you are from in or around Boston.

Most of the recipes are from my Mom, who was Irish, French and German, and some from her mother and father.

I think it is a fun project, but it takes a lot of time.  Time, because I end up thinking and remembering
and enjoying those times when we had that dish or pie.  In February, she would be making Cherry Pie and old-fashioned jelly rolls, boy those were good.

I remember most of the memories that come from when a particular one was served. Food, family and holidays.....I remember the Miracle on Ice, when the US won the Olympics.  She made Fried Chicken.  We watched and ate dinner in the living room, I think.  It was always dinner at the table, but not that day.  Such an event for US Hockey.  Nine years prior my Dad had died of a sudden, fatal cerebral hemorrhage.  He loved hockey and was the reason we got a color TV during the Golden Years of the Boston Bruins.  I think my Mom was excited about the hockey for he would have loved it and I was with my then fiance who loved sports of all kinds.  She definitely had spirit and supported things we liked in a great way with heart, emotion, love and always homemade food! 



I grew up in a time when we had supper at 5:00 p.m., and we had Sunday dinner at about 1:00 o'clock. We had meat and potatoes of course every night, and vegetables of course and huge Sunday dinners with the aunts and uncles, grandparents.

Why is it that food has memories or we have memories of food? 

I remember making petit fours.  Why?  I don't know, think I just wanted to test out some baking skills.  I am not a great baker, but my mother and my aunt and my sister all possessed that skill.  I can decorate a cake though, with flourish and creativity. So, I decorated those petit fours to the hilt.    I can cook a great meal.  Just not desserts.  I can't even make "Never Fail Fudge". 

Sometimes we have good nostaglia about foods, like Whoopie Pies for instance.  My mother made those for every event I had to attend.  They were the favorites of my young peers and myself.  She also made May Baskets for us and also for my son's class.  An honored tradition that people of today forget, May Baskets are a beautiful spring tradition, especially if you fill with home made fudge, the kind I can't make.


My mother was a great baker and never made Lemon Meringue Pie again, because she was making it the day we learned her nephew, my cousin had diabetes at age eleven and that was his favorite.  We were a close knit family in spirit and physically, all living near each other, in walking distance.


Why is that I can't make corned beef? Well, first of all it is expensive, but second of all, it brings back memories I do not like. 

 I found my mother who had a stroke lying on the floor and there was a corned beef sandwich on the kitchen table. She survived the stroke, but thinking about her lying on the floor alone for three hours was awful. 

But, if I were to make Corned Beef it would be the gray one and I'd sprinkle some vinegar on the cabbage. 

Old New England Recipes for Lobster ......lobstah from Maine recipes

Around this time of year, many folks in New England think about outdoor cookouts, clambakes and lobster festivals.  I have a collection of old recipes for cooking lobster and recipes for using leftovers.  Some are really very old. The Lobster Chowder is from an old cookbook of which I do not remember the name, but at the time the writer wrote from Maine,  it was taken from a recipe from the late1800's, as shown below.

Lobster Chowder

Baked Stuffed Lobster

Baked Live Lobster and Creamed Lobster

Broiled Live Lobster

Next, will be the collection of Clams, clambakes and other seafood and crab recipes. 

It's all about you, honey!

 
I don't know how I came across this book, but it's so neat.  I love to collect old recipe books and cook books that were published way back when and I have a much too large collection.  I found this book, and thought it was nice,  had a lot of interesting tips and information, but I didn't know how much info was in this book.  I always pick up these types of books at yard sales and thrift shops, because, well, you never know. 

1st - Most of the recipes include honey, how cool is that?
When I started leafing through the recipes, I saw this one for honey taffy. I've made taffy before, but not honey taffy, so will have to try this one.

 2nd - There is an Everyday Herb Guide
 3rd -  What shall we have for dinner section
 4th -  What to serve with what

and so much more.  Some community cook books have a little bit, but this one has everything.

Ways to use left-overs!  A great idea in these economically uncertain times.  One can always be resourceful and creative with just a little bit of help.

The complete book is here.

Interested in the Essex County Beekeepers Association, their home page is here.

More about honey and health benefits.

I guess we'll always have a love affair with you, honey.

How to cook steak in a cast iron frying pan

 A cast iron frying pan is key to cooking the best steak you'll ever taste. 
Juicy and tender, your family will thank you for a delicious meal.  


What I was told by the owner/chef at a family owned club, steak house many years ago,  (The Oregon Club) was to freeze the steak, good and solid. 

Get your cast iron pan hot and sprinkle with kosher salt (you can use sea salt too). No oil, or anything else.

Then, put the steak in the pan, a timer on for eight minutes (could be more if you have really thick steaks). Let it sear completely. The house might seem smoky for awhile, but if you have an exhaust fan on your stovetop, put it on.  You can also open the door to ajar a bit.  It doesn't last long, because you will turn the heat down. 

Then, turn the steak over and your heat down. This might take some practice until you get used to it, but could be medium low or even low. Set timer for twenty minutes. I use short cuts or NY strip steaks, not sure what cuts are called in other parts of the country. 

Keep watching it, as it takes some getting to know. I've done this for about 30+ years now and the steaks come out evenly cooked and tender. The juices are contained inside and just explode. This is for medium rare, so you can adjust accordingly, but steaks are even all the way through and from end to end. There's nothing better. Hope this helps.

Great with tossed salad and rice pilaf, wine or beverage of your choice.