Best Ever Lemon Meringue Pie

This recipe comes from a lady from Sunburst, Montana who has gone from this earth.  I found it in a cookbook called Recipes From the Aschim Family Ancestry.

My husband and a number of his friends, who had the privilege to grow up in her community and experience her baking, all swear this is the best lemon pie they have ever eaten.

Since my husband is in his mid-seventies and remembers this from early childhood, when they had community gatherings, I have no idea how old the recipe really is, but if you like Lemon Pie, he and his friends swear this is the best ever.


Kate Aschim’s Lemon Pie

2 cups water
1 ¼ cups sugar
4 Tblsp corn starch
Rind of lemon
6 Tblsp Lemon juice
Butter (size of walnut)
pinch of salt
3 egg yolks

Stir sugar and cornstarch together; add water and cook in a double boiler. Add beaten egg yolk and cook until clear. Pour into baked crust.

Never Fail Meringue:

2 Tblsp sugar
1 Tblsp cornstarch
½ cup water
Put in a saucepan and cook until clear. Set in cold water to cool.

Beat to a soft mound:

3 egg whites
1/8 tsp salt
vanilla

Add 6 Tblsp sugar and beat well. Add cooled cornstarch mixture. Continue beating until meringue stands in stiff peaks. Spread over custard. Bake at 350 degrees for 17 minutes or until light brown.

Recipes: Antique and Modern

I just got back from the Pacific Northwest and spending a couple of week with Mac. It is good to keep in touch, but especially good to touch. It was a little cool, but all in all, very nice weather.

I shared a recipe with Mac and would like to share it with the blog. I think it is a lot of fun to know how our ancestors cooked and equal fun to convert those recipes.

This is simple recipe for a simple, inexpensive dessert. Indian pudding, then and now.

INDIAN PUDDING (1828 recipe)

1 cup (not quite full) molasses, 1 cup (not quite full) cornmeal, 1 egg, 1 heaping spoonful of butter or fat, salt, ginger or cinnamon to taste, all beaten together. Full quart of sweet milk put on to boil and the ingredients stirred in. Take from fire and add not quite a full cup of cold milk. Pour into pan onto lumps of butter. Bake one hour. Extra good.

This is the way they did it. I tried it like this.

INDIAN PUDDING (today's recipe)

4 cups plus 2/3 cup milk
2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
3/4 cups molasses (a New England friend uses Maple syrup, yummy)
2 eggs beaten
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ginger or cinnamon (I tried using both together, taste similar to pumpkin pie)

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F. Heat 3 cups of milk in top of double boiler (can use microwave). Mix 1 cup of milk and cornmeal. Stir into hot milk. Combine the molasses, beaten eggs, butter salt and spice and add to cornmeal mixture. Cook over low heat intil mixture thickens slightly. Remove from heat and add remaining 2/3 cup milk. Pour into a buttered 2 quart casserole and bake 2 hours. Serve warm or cool with whipped cream

*NOTE FROM MAC:
This is the sort of thing Mom would do with us, when I was little. We'd look at old recipes for pies, cakes, pancakes, bread -- anything you can think of, really, that people have eaten for generations. Then we'd make the recipe together, and experiment with ingredients and amounts.  So it was extra fun and a little like time traveling to make Indian Pudding together in my mom's RV kitchen.*

Summer Salad

It's been a while, but I have a fun recipe for a salad that is perfect for a cookout, picnic or at the table. Before Summer is over, I wanted to share this easy recipe. Especially good with hot dogs or burgers. It is easy and very tasty and usually kids love it because it is full of fritos.

CORN CHIP SALAD

1 can kidney beans-do not drain
1/4 of an onion shopped
1/4 of a green pepper chopped
1/2 tomato chopped
1/2 small bottle Catalina dressing

Mix all ingredients together and leave to marinate for a couple of hours or more.
About 1/2 to 1 hour before serving, add 1/2 bag of Frito Corn Chips.

You can adjust the vegies in the salad if you prefer more than are called for.

Summertime Slaw!

Let's talk about cool summer dishes. I grew up with coleslaw, and always liked it. These days, I'm more likely to swing by KFC and pick up a quart of their slaw than to make it at home, though, and I recently realized that just wasn't working for me. In part, because I really like to know what's in the food I'm eating.

Lucky for me, coleslaw is one of those dead-easy dishes that will forgive you while you practice. In fact, the toughest part of slaw is the dressing. Once you've added a yummy, zesty slaw dressing to your recipe repertoire.

Let's talk first about a couple of decisions you'll need to make. I'm a huge fan of shredding my own cabbage, and shredding it with a knife. I'll happily use the grater for the carrots, jicama, or anything else I decide to add to my slaw, but I hand-shred the cabbage. I do this for a couple of reasons:

• It pleases me, that repetition, rhythm, and fine degree of control that I get from using a sharp knife to yield exactly the desired consistency and texture of the shredded cabbage.
• The slaw-mix you can buy, pre-shredded in the plastic bag? Dried-out, tasteless, expensive.
• That high-end Cuisanart food processor collecting dust in the back of the high cupboard-you-never-use, over the fridge? Reduces lovely crisp cabbage to eensy-weensy shreds, and it's a pain to clean up.

So you're essentially going to fill a big bowl with assorted shredded veggies. I like to use cabbage, maybe a little purple cabbage for color, carrots, some fresh green onion, and maybe some jicama or kohlrabi, if it's available. You might find this especially pleasing if you think about the combination of colors and textures, as well as thinking about the combination of flavors. You can vary the textures by varying the sizes of shreds, and consider tossing in a handful of toasted almond slivers, pecans, or hazelnut crumbles. (The bowl of slaw pictured above is topped with a sprinkle of toasted pecan crumbles and fresh basil leaves.) If you're looking for ways to cut sugar and fat in your diet, consider adding an apple to sweeten your slaw, peeled and cored and shredded.

Another set of options to consider is how do you want to serve your slaw? If you have a little leftover steak, some salad shrimp, or maybe a nice piece of smoked salmon, consider adding that in, too, chopped or shredded as needed. You'll have a delicious and robust slaw to serve as a sandwich on crusty rolls, or in a wrap.

Now, let's talk about dressings. I grew up with traditional mayonnaise and vinegar-based slaw dressings. Neither of those is particularly difficult. The following options will dress between two and three quarts of shredded veggies waiting naked in a big bowl.

• Use about a cup and a half of good quality mayo 
• Add a splash of vinegar or lemon juice (somewhere between two tablespoons and a quarter of a cup),
• Add a tablespoon or so of sugar, if you like your slaw a little sweeter 
• Add coarse-ground pepper, according to taste.  

You can experiment by adding other flavors, as well. Try experimenting with adding horseradish or coarse-ground mustard; perhaps even try some fennel, roasted garlic, or olives.

If a vinegar dressing is more to your taste, consider the kind of vinegar you'd like to use; perhaps you have a lovely balsamic or wine vinegar? Plain old cider vinegar can make a tangy and delicious dressing, too, though.

Whisk together in a bowl:

• A half cup of good vinegar
• A generous dollop of honey (a couple of tablespoons to a quarter of a cup)
• A couple of spoons of stone-ground mustard
• A pinch of celery seed
• A little coarse pepper 
• A couple of tablespoons of good-quality olive oil

As with the mayonnaise-based dressing, consider experimenting with other flavors you love and appreciate, like roasted garlic, red pepper, fennel, or a pinch of fresh-ground nutmeg.

Finally, the yogurt slaw dressing I've been promising people I'd post:

• Toss your shredded veggies in about a quarter cup of fresh lemon juice
• In another bowl, start with a cup or so of Greek-style yogurt—if this isn't readily available, it's pretty simple to make your own: simply pour a container of ordinary plain yogurt into a very fine mesh strainer over a bowl. If you con't have a chinois or cheesecloth, simply line your colander with a coffee filter. Let it drain overnight (in the refrigerator), discard the moisture that drains off and use the remaining yogurt.
• Add a couple of tablespoons of honey, if you like a sweeter slaw. (I usually skip this, since I don't have much of a sweet tooth.)
• A couple of tablespoons of coarse-ground mustard
• A tablespoon or two of good-quality olive-oil (helps the dressing cling and it's actually good for you) 
• Coarse-ground pepper and a little salt, to taste.
• Whisk smooth, then add to your shredded veggies and mix it all together with a big wooden spoon

It's that simple. Cook with stuff that's fresh. Experiment. Taste as you go. And don't be afraid.

Hurray for Summer, and Happy 4th of July Potluck!

Welcome, and I hope everyone's having a lovely weekend, filled with love, good food, family, and fun. Here's hoping the weekend finds everyone well and happy! Welcome to our first ever blog potluck, and thanks so much for sharing your favorite summer celebration recipes and memories of loved ones.

UPDATE:
We have another dish to share, this one from Haggis, over on What do you mean, I should start a blog? Haggis brings us a recipe for 1-2-3 Lemon Sherbet:

Strictly speaking, this should be called Momma and Poppa Haggis' Homemade 3-2-1 Lemon Sherbet because my sainted mother always got the ingredients ready, while my father always took care of freezing the mixture using the old hand-cranked ice cream maker. He'd pack it with ice, rock salt and a little water, then he'd burn off about a bizillion calories cranking away until it became sherbet.

Haggis says to enjoy his recipe for homemade sherbet with relish, but with people relish not pickle relish. I'm pretty sure he doesn't intend you should actually make relish out of people, because he didn't include a recipe for that part . . . But he does write horror, and with Haggis, it never pays to take these things for granted.


I got a very funny link to add, from Jamie Mason: Picnic: Or Why The Hell Are We Eating Outside?

There are a number of sturdy and standard plans we entertain that don’t hold up nearly as well once they’re launched into reality.  It’s one of the amusing things about being human.  And summer is particularly prone to showing up our big ideas for being wobbly-at-best.  For instance, the belly-flop.  Drenching the coals with lighter fluid just to get things going.  The Slip n’ Slide.  The keg stand.  The Slip n’ Slide after a keg stand.  The Speedo. 

Maria Zannini shares memories and techniques for Mexican barbacoa, over on her blog, Tales of Otherworlds:

Mexican barbeque is called barbacoa, and it's not your typical Texan fare.

Barbacoa is basically slow cooked beef. Traditionally, it is cooked in a pit, wrapped in maguey or banana leaves where the smoke and steam seal in the juices and imbue it with a flavor that's out of this world.

Marguerite Butler shares a wonderful recipe and memories of her grandmother, Fresh From the Garden, on Marguerite Says:

My grandmother was a fantastic gardener, but she didn't eat fresh vegetables.  Nana was a product of the great depression and all things were to be hoarded, even food.  Some of my earliest memories are of summer harvests and the inevitable canning process.  With only a tiny icebox, she didn't freeze things.  She canned them.  For days on end, the pressure canner and pots of boiling water roiled nonstop.  I'm talking about a Texas summer with only a little swamp cooler unit to take the sting out of the heat.

My own mom posted about Summers and Picnics, celebrating Independence Day, watermelon-rind pickles, and growing up in Texas in the 1940s:

Mom would pack up a scrumptious lunch with Southern fried chicken, roasting ears of corn to cook on the grill, potato salad, coconut cake (my Dad's favorite), and a huge watermelon. Usually we'd head for the Brazos river to spend the day, or sometimes two. Dad and the boys would fish or put out set lines for catfish. When we stayed for a couple of days, Mom would cook up the catfish and fry potatoes on the campfire. It just didn't get any better than that.

Lisa Spangenberg shares memories of her father, and the recipe for his coleslaw, on A Digital Medievalist's Commonplace Blog. I cannot help but observe again the joy and sweetness we carry around the associations we all have between food, memory, and the people beloved to us:

I loved his coleslaw. There were two things that made his coleslaw different; one, he didn't overuse mayonnaise, and two, he added nuts. At first, it was slivered almonds, or pecans, but later, after he retired, he started using macadamia nuts. I can remember him standing over the cutting board with half a head of green cabbage, and shredding it with a knife. He didn't like to use the food processor. He'd add grated carrots, a little high quality mayo, salt and pepper to taste, and last of all, the nuts.

From Trish Stewart, back from a shared camping vacation with a bunch of friends:

Jamie asked for my green bean recipe. I sent this to her, but I figured I'd forward it/share it with you guys too, and Mac, since you thought it sounded evilly delicious, I'm copying you. (try it out and feel free to share it on your cooking blog if you approve of it) (minus the extra jibberish, of course)

The runamuck version.

Get fresh green beans. I don't know how many you're feeding so all of this is going to be guessing on my end.

snip the ends (drinking all the while). soak them for a bit. (continue drinking). 

wash your hands, damn it!

put some chicken broth in the water you're boiling the beans in. I used 3 cups with way too much water at Runamuck. you could probably go half water half broth for the best result. you don't need to salt the water.

drink!

get a good boil before you put them in. while you're waiting for the water to boil fry some bacon (in a really big skillet because all the beans are going in there). 

For the amount I made at Runamuck I used 6 or 8 slices of thick-cut bacon. (drink while the bacon is cooking and you're waiting for your water to boil)

wash your hands!

Take the bacon out, and set it aside, leave the grease. 

Chop an onion put it in the bacon grease on low about 5 minutes before your half-cooked beans are ready to go in. 

wash your hands again, and take another drink. (be sure you wash your hands before you take a drink because you don't want onion bacon beverage, do you?)

Chop your cashews while you wait. (cashews..how many? shoot...how many look like enough? And really, is there ever enough?)

Use tongs to get the beans outta the water. Put the beans in the pan with the bacon drippings and onion.

add about a cup (depending on how many, maybe 2) of broth/water, salt and pepper.

Again, depending on how many beans, add a couple tablespoons of butter. (at runamuck I probably added 3 tablespoons of butter, and I took another drink) 

let them cook until they are tender.

When they are done and the broth/butter/bacon drippings has reduced to a thick sauce add chopped cashews. I usually just throw in a few handfuls maybe 1/4 cup? ah....probably more than that. how's it look?

they'll get coated and toasty.

drink for the toasty cashews!

crumble up the cooked bacon.

wash your hands!

take a drink.

add the crumbled bacon (it stays crispy if you wait until the end to put it in) -->and truly this genius requires you to drink again.

top it with crumbled bleu cheese.(however much you want)

the longer it stays in the pan the gooey-er (is that a word? drink!) it'll be. 

and it does reheat well but the bleu cheese will melt entirely when you reheat it.

if you're taking it somewhere for a cookout maybe get it all done except for the bacon, bleu cheese and cashews.

if you do it that way, take the cooked beans and saucy-ness put it back in the skillet, get it hot, add the crumbled bacon, cashews and bleu cheese while you're there so you don't have to try to keep it warm and let the bacon get soggy).

drink su'more!

let me know if you have any questions about it. I just do it by taste and visual. (does that look like enough?) :)

The "extra gibberish" is far too much fun to leave off, Trish. It sounds like you all had an indecent amount of fun and amazing food at Camp Runumuck.

I'll continue posting links for everyone to enjoy as they continue trickling in. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone, and thank you so much for sharing your memories and recipes with us.

Summertime and picnics

I grew up in the 1940's during the post depression, WWII era. Even with the turmoil our nation was in, my parents always took time to make sure my 3 brothers and I appreciated the 4th of July holiday and what it stood for.

There was always a picnic with all the goodies. Mom would pack up a scrumptious lunch with Southern fried chicken, roasting ears of corn to cook on the grill, potato salad, coconut cake (my Dad's favorite), and a huge watermelon. Usually we'd head for the Brazos river to spend the day, or sometimes two. Dad and the boys would fish or put out set lines for catfish. When we stayed for a couple of days, Mom would cook up the catfish and fry potatoes on the campfire. It just didn't get any better than that.

One thing I especially remember is, when we ate the watermelon, Mom would always collect the rind and put it in the cooler to take home. We were taught to use everything that was provided and not to waste. After we got home, Mom would use the rind of the watermelon to make Watermelon Pickles. We enjoyed our 4th of July bounty into the winter.

Watermelon Pickles
The rind of one large watermelon.
Peel and remove all green and pink portions from the rind.
Cut into one inch cubes and soak overnight in salt water (4 tablespoons of salt to 1 quart of water)
Drain and cover with fresh water aand cook until almost tender

Drain the watermelon and make a syrup of:
8 Cups sugar
4 cups vinegar
8 teaspoons whole cloves
16 sticks of cinnamon
1teaspoon mustard seed
(Tie the spices in a cheesecloth bag)

Heat the syrup and spices to boiling and allow to set for 15 minutes.
Add the drained rind and cook until rind is transparent.
A few minutes befor boiling time is up, you may add enough red or green food coloring to give the desired color to the pickles. This is optional, Mom never did, so I never do. Pack into hot sterilized canning jars to within 1/2" of top. Put on cap and screw band firmly tight. Process in Boiling Water Bath for 5 minutes. Should yield 6 pints.

Adding the red or green food color could make a festive touch to serve at Christmastime. You would still be enjoying the 4th of July holiday in December.

Family Traditions, Celebrations, and a Blog Potluck Invitation!

Holidays were huge fun, growing up, and the 4th of July was no exception. Not only because we got to blow things up in the driveway, but the fried chicken and potato salad, the chilled watermelon, and the fun of setting aside most of a day specifically to play—whether that meant taking the horses out,  having a water-balloon fight in the front yard, or the whole family packing a cooler and driving out to picnic under the shade of the cottonwoods in the coulee behind the house.

Part of learning to create home around myself, as an adult, was learning to honor that need to take a day off and just play. One of my favorite ways to spend any holiday is to gather up friends and acquaintances without plans, and incorporate them into the celebration. Since I don't have a big yard this year, I won't be doing a 4th of July barbecue, but I'm definitely thinking about gathering up friends and packing a cooler full of that aforementioned fried chicken and potato salad.

In that spirit, you are cordially invited to a virtual potluck celebration of family and friends and good food in time for the 4th of July weekend. If you'd like to post a link to this invitation for your own readers, please do! The more the merrier! I'll post a blog carnival round-up of everyone's posts, here, on July 2nd. 

You don't need to be a USian. Just share a favorite memory, a favorite summer recipe, or anything else summer-nostalgia-cooking related that you feel like posting about and sharing with everyone.  If you'll post a link in the comments, or email or PM your link to me in time to post the whole round-up on July 2nd, in time for the weekend. If you don't have a blog of your own, but you'd like to participate, just contact me and I'll put your piece up as a guest-post here on Creating Home.

Heh. Then someone else can volunteer to host the next one!

Mary's Bread

When my children were growing up, we lived 30 miles from a town. Needless to say, we did not run to the corner grocery to pick up a loaf of bread if we ran out. Even trying to plan ahead, there were times we ran out of things before shopping day. Fresh bread was always hard to keep on hand. Keep in mind, this is before bread machines, so we did it the old-fashioned way. Fortunately, my next door neighbors, about 3 miles away, were a colony of very friendly Hutterites. One of the ladies who worked in the bakery shared this easy recipe with me.

Mary's Bread

1/2cup warm water (approx 110 degrees)
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon yeast
Mix together to activate yeast

Mix 2-1/2 cups water
2 teaspoons salt
2 tsp sugar
Add 1 cup flour to make batter.
Add yeast mixture and a little more flour and 3 tablespoons melted lard (I use oil or shortening)
Add enough flour to make a stiff dough (approximately 3 cups)
Knead on floured board until dough is elastic.
Place in a greased bowl and grease top and cover and let rise 1 hour - punching down every 15 minutes.
Regrease top and cover and let rise 2 hours
Cut into 3 equal parts and let rest for 20 minutes Shape to fit greased pans.
Let rise another 2 hours
Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until done. Crust will be brown and sound hollow when tapped. Recipe will double well and produce 6 loaves, using just under 5 pounds of flour. I always doubled it; because, especially in the summer, we had extra kids staying with us and the first two loaves were inhaled with fresh homemade butter.

And speaking of homemade butter, I'd like to share a poem that brings back some of my childhood memories. This is written by Rachel Friend Capehart, Neosho MO., 1908-1991

When Mama Used To Churn

Sometimes a fresh baked loaf of bread

Can cause my heart to yearn,

Because it takes me back to days

When Mama used to churn.

I loved to watch her as she sat

Holding the Dazey churn;

Turning the gears paddled the cream...

Sometimes I'd take a turn.

It did not take so very long

To make the butter come

But I could scarcely wait for it

Because I wanted some

To spread on thickly sliced fresh bread,

Oh, what a treat was mine!

Nothing tastes half so good these days,

No matter where I dine.

Doing the wash-up seemed like fun--

All offered help I spurned--

Because I washed between the bites

After Mama had churned.

Since we were in the country and had milk cows, I was able to share the experience with Mac and my other daughters. I discovered it is a lot more fun in memories than in the actual doing, but nothing equals the taste.

For those of you who have never experienced the taste of fresh homemade butter, you can do it with whipping cream and the electric mixer, although the fresh farm cream is better. Just whip the cream past the whipped stage until it makes butter. Drain the milk off (it is okay to drink), rinse the butter in cold water, kneading it, until all the milk is rinsed out; salt lightly. Spread on your fresh bread as soon as you cut the loaf and enjoy!!

I grant you, buying a block of butter and making the loaf with a bread machine is easier and less time consuming, but not nearly as satisfying as doing it the old fashiond way and sharing the experience with your children and, in my case, the grandson. Every mom should try it at least once.