We’d planned a meet-and-greet reception at a committee member’s house for after the concert. Luckily, she wasn’t the same woman who’d loaned the Wolfe Tones her bathroom. Concert-goers had the option when they purchased the concert tickets of buying admittance to the reception. A lot of them did; the house was packed. It reminded me of the bat-against-the-Scott-monument-wall episode, except I wasn’t near a wall.
Everyone seemed to have a good time. The guys were charming and talked to anyone who came up to them. We of the concert committee had supplied food for the reception. I’d thought of bringing something kind of Irish, but other than bread, I hadn’t a clue what it could be. I’d never heard of Irish appetizers. Also, I didn’t want to insult the guys by producing some weak American imitation of the Real Thing. So I brought my homemade cashew cookies.
They must’ve been all right. Two people asked me for the recipe.
Crunchy Cashew Cookies – about 6 dozen cookies
2 ¼ cups flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp cream of tartar
¾ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
½ cup granulated sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ cups finely chopped cashews
* * *
Preheat oven to 350°F.
In large bowl, combine all ingredients except the cashews. Mix thoroughly, and then stir in the cashews, blending them in.
Drop dough by rounded teaspoon onto lightly greased (or parchment lined) cookie sheets.
Bake 12-15 minutes at 350°F or until cookies are golden brown. Cool on wire rack.
Even though I didn’t serve this at the reception, I’d like to include this recipe. It seems to fit this chapter.
* * *
Irish Oatmeal Soda Bread
1 cup all purpose flour
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp butter
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup rolled oats
1 ½ cups buttermilk
* * *
Preheat oven to 375°F.
In a large bowl, combine the all purpose flour, brown sugar, powder, soda and salt. Cut in the butter. Stir in the whole wheat flour and the oats.
Make a well in the center of the mixture. Pour the buttermilk into this well. Stir ONLY until the dry ingredients are moistened. If the mixture is too dry, add more buttermilk, one tablespoon at a time until the dough holds together.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board and knead ONLY one minute. Shape the dough into a ball, flatten the top slightly, and place it on a greased cookie sheet. Cut a deep cross into the top of the dough.
Bake for 35-40 minutes at 375°F or until the bread sounds hollow when rapped in the center of the bottom. Wrap the bread in a clean tea towel and stand it on its side until it’s cold.
Chapter 26
Not Fit for Human Consumption
During my high school years, my parents hosted a Spanish exchange student for one day. The occasion escapes me, but she may have been passing through St. Louis. Though short, the visit was memorable.
My mom considered several menus for that evening’s dinner. She wanted to serve food that was associated with Missouri or at least was prominent here. Gooey Butter Coffeecake might’ve been a good choice since it was invented in the south section of the city. The story that’s come down from the 1930s states that a baker mixed the butter proportion with the flour measurement in their usual coffeecake recipe. Whether he was frugal or not, as the legend relates, he didn’t throw it out, but instead offered it for sale in his bakery. It was so popular that Gooey Butter took its place with other iconic St. Louis foods, such as toasted ravioli.
Mom bypassed the Gooey Butter but she did serve corn on the cob, though; it was summer, and a good crop swelled the local farmer markets.
The student helped herself to every dish on the table except the corn. When mom held the platter toward her and asked if she’d like some, the girl replied, “We only feed corn to our hogs.”
Okay…
Pecan Corn Casserole – serves 6
2 cups corn, either cut off the cob, frozen or canned
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
½ tsp ground pepper
2 tbsp butter, melted
¾ cup evaporated milk
½ cup chopped pecans
2 tbsp sugar
* * *
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 2-qt casserole. Mix all ingredients in a bowl and turn mixture into the casserole.
Bake for 40-50 minutes at 350°F or until firm to touch.
Deviled Corn Chowder – 4 servings
2 10.56-oz cans cream of chicken soup – undiluted
1 2 ¼-oz can deviled ham
1 soup can milk
1 16-oz can cream style corn
1 12 oz can whole kernel corn
dash of nutmeg
½ tsp paprika
* * *
In a saucepan, stir all ingredients together. Heat until it boils, then serve.
Since Then
These events shaped who I am. I made friends, learned a lot about life, and learned about cooking. I think life, friends and cooking are linked. As I grew in confidence about who I was and what I wanted from life, what I wanted to accomplish and learn, I made friends. I wanted to give of myself to my friends, show them how much I liked them and was honored that they liked me. So I invited them to my place for lunch or dinner or afternoon tea.
I practiced my cooking and baking because not only didn’t I want to embarrass myself by producing something inedible but also I wanted to become a good cook and baker. It was another form of expression, something I could create in addition to my art, music and writing.
Basically, I like the home fare that our ancestors made in their simpler kitchens, using whole wheat and oats. As I baked, I tried to imagine what their stoves were like, how they’d learned to make bread, what comprised their daily lives. Of course, I couldn’t. But the imagined link to my relatives was there, and I loved it.
In this book, I’ve gone through some of the more memorable or major events in my life. Of course there are more, but I have no intention of making this an autobiography. No one is interested in that. But if you’ll allow me another look back, I’d like to include three of my favorite recipes here. They fit at the end of this rendition, for they were passed on to me by my mother or friends. I hope you like them and will pass them on to someone you love. That’s what recipes are for, I think: linking us through the years.
* * *
My family and I had Ann’s Pineapple Side Dish at her house for dinner one evening. Ann was one of my mom’s best friends and was the mother of three daughters, two of whom were the same ages as my sister and I. Consequently, we played and grew up together. I’m glad Ann gave my mother the recipe, for it’s a dear link to her and her daughters.
Ann’s Pineapple Side Dish
½ c butter
¾ c sugar
4 eggs, beaten
3 ½ cups fresh bread cubes (6 slices of bread—white bread works best)
½ c milk
1 16-oz. can crushed pineapple, unsweetened and undrained
* * *
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 13x9” baking pan. Cream the butter and sugar in a medium-sized bowl. Add the 4 beaten eggs. Mix well. Add the cubes of bread, then mix in the milk and the undrained pineapple.
* * *
Mix well. Pour into the pan. Bake for one hour.
Bubble and Squeak, another traditional British recipe, is a tasty combination of mashed potatoes and cooked cabbage. It attributes its name to the sound occurring while it cooks. It’s an economical way to use leftover veggies. But I don’t let that stop me from making it. I’m happy to make the mash and chop the cabbage so I can eat this!
I first tasted this at a friend�
��s house in England. Her dad was Scottish; her mother was German and was a WWII war bride, and the family lived in Bolton, Lancashire. I went over to their house occasionally and had lovely teas. Many of their meals had some German dish included, but I remember the Bubble and Squeak with fondness, not only because I love it, but also because I got the recipe from my friend’s mom.
* * *
Bubble and Squeak -- serves 6
4 cups cooked mashed potatoes
4 cups cooked cabbage, chopped into small pieces
salt
pepper
4 tbsp olive oil
* * *
Mix the potatoes and cabbage, and season with salt and pepper.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the potato mixture in batches--about enough to form the size of a pancake. Sauté over medium heat, pressing down the mixture so it forms the shape of a flat cake. When it is well browned on one side, turn and cook on the other side.
Transfer to a hot plate and serve immediately. Cook the rest of the potato mixture in the same method, making individual “flat cakes” each time.
My mother didn’t serve this baked custard as often as I would have liked. She had a lot of recipes and didn’t need to concentrate on only one. Consequently, we didn’t have it all that often. I assume I remember it so fondly due to the smoothness of the custard, how silky it was as I pressed spoonsful of it between my tongue and the roof of my mouth. It seemed impossible that any food could be so satiny and so good. Whenever I make this, I think of my mom.
* * *
Skim Milk Baked Custard – 6 servings
4 medium eggs
6 tbsp sugar
½ cup cold skim milk
2 cups scaled skim milk
dash of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 drops almond extract
nutmeg
* * *
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Lightly butter six 5-oz custard cups. Set in shallow baking pan in oven so cups will be warm as oven heats.
In large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar. Mix well. Stir in ½ cup cold milk, salt, vanilla and almond extract. Quickly add the egg mixture to the scalded hot milk. Stir quickly. Pour into warm custard cups. Dust tops of each custard with nutmeg. Fill the pan with hot water to half inch from the cups’ tops. Place in oven and bake 15-17 minutes.
These are some events in my life and the food I associate with them. I hope you use your favorite recipes to bind food and friends, thus creating your own pleasant memories. After all, I think that’s the secondary purpose of food…and truly the most pleasant one.
Jo A. Hiestand Books
Mysteries steeped in tea and tartan!
The McLaren Mysteries
Cold Revenge
Last Seen
Shadow in the Smoke
Brushed With Injustice
An Unfolding Trap
No Known Address
An Unwilling Suspect
Arrested Flight
Photo Shoot
* * *
The Peak District Mysteries
A Staged Murder
A Recipe For Murder
In A Wintry Wood
A Touch of Murder
The Stone Hex
Searching Shadows
* * *
Cider, Swords & Straw: Celebrating British Customs (cookbook with customs information and Peak District Mystery book synopses)
Carols for Groundhog’s Day
* * *
Writing as Jessie McAlan
The Linn House Mysteries
The House on Devil’s Bar
A Hasty Grave
A Whisper of Water
About the Author
Jo A. Hiestand is the founding president of the Greater St Louis chapter of Sisters in Crime. She graduated with a BA degree in English and departmental honors from Webster University.
She writes three mystery series -- two British (The McLaren mysteries and The Peak District mysteries) and one local (The Linn House mysteries). She’s been a secretary and a graphic designer.
Her hobbies include photography, music and researching the Scottish branch of her family.
“Tea In a Tin Cup” joins her other stand-alone books.
Tea In a Tin Cup Page 12
