Thank you for the recipe. I had a friend who baked pavlovas. They were so good. We were walking buddies, but sadly, she has passed on. I miss her, especially in the spring when we enjoyed walking in the neighborhood and inspecting the flowers in every yard.
Your post reminded me of something from long ago. When my mother was pregnant with me, my father had to travel far away to Galveston, Texas from our home in Central Louisiana, to have surgery for a rare condition. my brother who was 9, was shipped off to aunts to be kept during that week or so, my oldest brother, who was 18 and on the basketball team that won the State championship that year, stayed home, on his own, to go to school and practice basketball. He dutifully attended church that week and one of the ladies there was questioning him about how he was getting along on his own. She was particularly concerned about him getting enough to eat, and said , "I know it must be hard without your mother there and you not knowing how to cook." To which he replied, "I can cook. Anybody who can read, can cook."
Yes, my mom was 19 when the first brother was born. She turned 20 just days after. She was 36 when I was born. She turned 37 much later in the year. There was one brother in between who was 10, when I was born. It was an interesting family dynamic. We were almost all of separate generations.
There an interesting addition to the story about my father's illness. He had something called Buerger's disease. A first cousin of his, also had the same disease at the same time. It caused severe pain in his legs when walking and because he liked to bird hunt that was a big problem. A doctor in Galveston came up with a supposed cure for it, involving an operation to strip out the sympathetic nerve in each leg. Both cousins traveled to Galveston to have the surgery. My father recovered from the surgery and continued to improve and got well. He also stopped smoking at about the same time, because my oldest brother had started and he felt he was being hypocritical to ask his son to stop smoking while he still was. His cousin on the other hand,. was dead before a year was out.
Fast forward to many years later when I was in my late 30's, I got a job at the Clayton County Library Headquarters Library as Branch Manager and head of reference. When new books would come in, I examined them to see how they could be useful and one day we got in a new Medical Encyclopedia. I was looking through it, looking up different diseases and conditions. I remembered about the disease my father had had and looked it up. It turns out Buerger's disease is almost always limited to people of Jewish or Middle Eastern heritage and it is caused by smoking. The only cure for it, is to stop smoking. His cousin did not stop smoking.
We have never been aware of any Jewish or Middle Eastern heritage, but I think it does explain one thing in my life, my father's yearly demand, that was always ignored by us kids, that we should have blue decorations on the Christmas tree.
my mum loves pavlova! i mean, really loves pavlova. Ironically when i was growing up she was a cook in a country hotel/pub so she didn't cook at home, instead my father, who had cooked on boats, did the cooking. Nothing fancy but seeing him cook meant that we didn't necessarily see the kitchen as a 'woman's' place, it was a shared zone. So when our daughter was born, my wife went back to work and i stayed home and, yes, i did the cooking. Still can't make a good pav though ;)
Is there ANY way you can get your mum's recipe for pavlova? I too am in love with that dessert. And lucky you, that your dad cooked so you know the kitchen as a shared space.
mum didn't keep recipes as such. When she did cook she relied on memory or the 'green and gold cookbook' - a staple of most australian households in the 60s/70s it seems... your basic guide to cooking for housewives!! And when it came to pavlova she would let other people prepare them for her...she still does...just a little spoiled i think :D
One of my favorite books is "Cross Creek Cookery" by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, a memoir with recipes. I discovered it in the library of a writer for whom I was housesitting in 1961. I also enjoyed novelist Laurie Colwin's essays with recipes. Something good to eat can make almost any ex[erience better. I will not make a Pavlova, Janisse, because I do not like meringue, but your recent riff on broccoli salad raised the bar for one of my go-to meals. (I have to use super market broccoli.)
Ina, I love this book as well. It's one of my favorites. And I'm so glad about the broccoli salad. And I'm going to try to remember that you don't like meringue. Hope you're doing great!
I absolutely open it up! "The Seed Underground" was the first book of yours that I read, and I loved it so much (that I gave away my copy to a friend) and am so grateful that it led me to discover more of your work. I love how you write about food and I love how you sprinkle food and recipes into your newsletter in such a generous yet humble way.
We had a good friend there who encouraged living in Statesboro as a cultural experience. And lots of friends at the University. But we didn't want to stay there for our entire careers...and happily, had a chance to move to the Upstate of SC in Clemson.
Looks delicious! I cook and find it's a great creative outlet. So please share recipes, yes. Love that you used mulberries you foraged. It's all wonderful.
I love this post! I am the cook in my household, and even now when it is just the two of us, I make a meal from scratch most nights. Sometimes it's a burden, because I also work full time, but it gives me a bonus lunch for the next day as well. And yes, I have my standard rotation; I work off of a list of recipes that I made years ago when my kids were still little. But, I LOVE cookbooks. I just bought a new one of Palestinian home cooking. I love the intersection of food, art, and social justice.
Suzy, so cool. In the trilogy at the bottom, what is the art? Meaning the artfulness of the food? I get food & social justice. Also I'd love to know some of the things on your rotation.
On my rotation: Mac & Cheese, Scalloped Potatoes, Shepherd's Pie, Burritos, Quiche, various soups (Lentil, Split Pea, Cream of Tomato, Curried Pumpkin, Chicken & Dumplings/Matzo Balls), Red Beans & Rice, White Chicken Chili ...
I used the old Laurel's Kitchen a lot, as well as the early Moosewood cookbooks and good old Joy of Cooking. What are your favorites? This is a fun conversation.
Same as you, lots of soups & chilis. Tacos. Taco salads. Shepherd's Pie as well. A lot depends on what we have available at the moment. For example, garlic scapes have been in season. We have scapes a few times a week, sautéed in an iron skillet with butter & salt, as one of the vegetables. We eats tons of salad. Raven is more experimental than I. Last night he made spring rolls with shrimp from the coast (we live an hour away) (we freeze it) and veggies from the garden. We raise beef & if we have beef in the freezer we have lots of burgers without the buns. Oh gosh, I could go on and on about this.
I was thinking about the culture that foodways are a part of. For example, in the Palestinian cookbook the author talks a lot about how food fits in with festive times, like weddings, and the presentation goes beyond the food, but to the traditional embroidered clothing and linens. Does that make sense? I'm not explaining it very well I fear. When you come back to Wisconsin, you should check out a place called Folklore Village, a rural folk life center.
That is so kind. Susanne, I hope you forgive my tardiness on our other project. I'll send you a message, but I finally had time to measure this morning and the strap is about 40 inches. I'm counting the 1.5 inch hooks in that. So maybe 37 inches of the leather.
I recommend Alicia Kennedy if you’re interested in a woman thinking sharply about food and cooking, and all the labor that goes into it. Kennedy wants to see the feminized labor in the home, the masculinized labor of chefs in a restaurant, and the invisible labor of agricultural workers, all at once. It’s bracing.
I somehow did not develop the interest in cooking as a teenager and really only learned out of necessity as an adult. I enjoy baking far more than cooking. Luckily, I have a husband who can really cook and so I'm glad that aspect is taken care of. I do admire those with the ability and patience/interest to cook elaborate meals.
My mother wasn’t a cook, although she taught me (via her mother) how to cut up a chicken. She didn’t care much about cooking, so I, like you, taught myself how to cook, first bread and cookies, then at 12, chicken curry (following a recipe) while my mom was at class, studying to finish her undergraduate and then ms degrees. I’ve been a keen cook and baker, and certainly am glad of my connections there (and never thought badly about cooking!)
My sister never became interested in cooking though, and even now, eats quite simple and limited meals. Her former husband loved cooking, but she’s a plain cook.
My hubbie, too, has never really cooked. His mother chose not to teach him or his brothers to cook. Go figure. The youngest son (6 yrs younger than my hubbie and his older brother) has, in fact, learned to cook quite well.
His lawyer wife never was taught to cook by her single, non-cooking mom. So curious.
Thanks for prompting these remembrances!
I’ve baked all of our bread now for decades, favoring whole-grain loaves, not available in South Georgia decades ago. It’s now an easy habit, along with growing vegetables.
Thank you for the recipe. I had a friend who baked pavlovas. They were so good. We were walking buddies, but sadly, she has passed on. I miss her, especially in the spring when we enjoyed walking in the neighborhood and inspecting the flowers in every yard.
Your post reminded me of something from long ago. When my mother was pregnant with me, my father had to travel far away to Galveston, Texas from our home in Central Louisiana, to have surgery for a rare condition. my brother who was 9, was shipped off to aunts to be kept during that week or so, my oldest brother, who was 18 and on the basketball team that won the State championship that year, stayed home, on his own, to go to school and practice basketball. He dutifully attended church that week and one of the ladies there was questioning him about how he was getting along on his own. She was particularly concerned about him getting enough to eat, and said , "I know it must be hard without your mother there and you not knowing how to cook." To which he replied, "I can cook. Anybody who can read, can cook."
Great story! Good for your brother! (I'm amazed at the number of years in age between you and your older brother.)
Yes, my mom was 19 when the first brother was born. She turned 20 just days after. She was 36 when I was born. She turned 37 much later in the year. There was one brother in between who was 10, when I was born. It was an interesting family dynamic. We were almost all of separate generations.
There an interesting addition to the story about my father's illness. He had something called Buerger's disease. A first cousin of his, also had the same disease at the same time. It caused severe pain in his legs when walking and because he liked to bird hunt that was a big problem. A doctor in Galveston came up with a supposed cure for it, involving an operation to strip out the sympathetic nerve in each leg. Both cousins traveled to Galveston to have the surgery. My father recovered from the surgery and continued to improve and got well. He also stopped smoking at about the same time, because my oldest brother had started and he felt he was being hypocritical to ask his son to stop smoking while he still was. His cousin on the other hand,. was dead before a year was out.
Fast forward to many years later when I was in my late 30's, I got a job at the Clayton County Library Headquarters Library as Branch Manager and head of reference. When new books would come in, I examined them to see how they could be useful and one day we got in a new Medical Encyclopedia. I was looking through it, looking up different diseases and conditions. I remembered about the disease my father had had and looked it up. It turns out Buerger's disease is almost always limited to people of Jewish or Middle Eastern heritage and it is caused by smoking. The only cure for it, is to stop smoking. His cousin did not stop smoking.
We have never been aware of any Jewish or Middle Eastern heritage, but I think it does explain one thing in my life, my father's yearly demand, that was always ignored by us kids, that we should have blue decorations on the Christmas tree.
my mum loves pavlova! i mean, really loves pavlova. Ironically when i was growing up she was a cook in a country hotel/pub so she didn't cook at home, instead my father, who had cooked on boats, did the cooking. Nothing fancy but seeing him cook meant that we didn't necessarily see the kitchen as a 'woman's' place, it was a shared zone. So when our daughter was born, my wife went back to work and i stayed home and, yes, i did the cooking. Still can't make a good pav though ;)
Is there ANY way you can get your mum's recipe for pavlova? I too am in love with that dessert. And lucky you, that your dad cooked so you know the kitchen as a shared space.
mum didn't keep recipes as such. When she did cook she relied on memory or the 'green and gold cookbook' - a staple of most australian households in the 60s/70s it seems... your basic guide to cooking for housewives!! And when it came to pavlova she would let other people prepare them for her...she still does...just a little spoiled i think :D
Well, darn.
More recipes please!
You got it.
One of my favorite books is "Cross Creek Cookery" by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, a memoir with recipes. I discovered it in the library of a writer for whom I was housesitting in 1961. I also enjoyed novelist Laurie Colwin's essays with recipes. Something good to eat can make almost any ex[erience better. I will not make a Pavlova, Janisse, because I do not like meringue, but your recent riff on broccoli salad raised the bar for one of my go-to meals. (I have to use super market broccoli.)
Ina, I love this book as well. It's one of my favorites. And I'm so glad about the broccoli salad. And I'm going to try to remember that you don't like meringue. Hope you're doing great!
I absolutely open it up! "The Seed Underground" was the first book of yours that I read, and I loved it so much (that I gave away my copy to a friend) and am so grateful that it led me to discover more of your work. I love how you write about food and I love how you sprinkle food and recipes into your newsletter in such a generous yet humble way.
I'm sending some songbirds your way, Frinklepod, to sing to you this summer. :)
We were in Statesboro, teaching at Georgia Southern. A long time ago!
And you had those Statesboro blues, didn't you?
We had a good friend there who encouraged living in Statesboro as a cultural experience. And lots of friends at the University. But we didn't want to stay there for our entire careers...and happily, had a chance to move to the Upstate of SC in Clemson.
sorry to lose you to Clemson.
I do cook because I have to, but I so love collecting and sharing recipes as well. A good cookbook is a marvelous thing!
I hear you. May I ask your favorite cookbook?
Currently, The Happy Table of Eugene Walter. He's such a joy!
Looks delicious! I cook and find it's a great creative outlet. So please share recipes, yes. Love that you used mulberries you foraged. It's all wonderful.
Not exactly foraged, Katie. We planted the trees. They're native but domesticated. Much easier to pick.
I love this post! I am the cook in my household, and even now when it is just the two of us, I make a meal from scratch most nights. Sometimes it's a burden, because I also work full time, but it gives me a bonus lunch for the next day as well. And yes, I have my standard rotation; I work off of a list of recipes that I made years ago when my kids were still little. But, I LOVE cookbooks. I just bought a new one of Palestinian home cooking. I love the intersection of food, art, and social justice.
Suzy, so cool. In the trilogy at the bottom, what is the art? Meaning the artfulness of the food? I get food & social justice. Also I'd love to know some of the things on your rotation.
On my rotation: Mac & Cheese, Scalloped Potatoes, Shepherd's Pie, Burritos, Quiche, various soups (Lentil, Split Pea, Cream of Tomato, Curried Pumpkin, Chicken & Dumplings/Matzo Balls), Red Beans & Rice, White Chicken Chili ...
I used the old Laurel's Kitchen a lot, as well as the early Moosewood cookbooks and good old Joy of Cooking. What are your favorites? This is a fun conversation.
Same as you, lots of soups & chilis. Tacos. Taco salads. Shepherd's Pie as well. A lot depends on what we have available at the moment. For example, garlic scapes have been in season. We have scapes a few times a week, sautéed in an iron skillet with butter & salt, as one of the vegetables. We eats tons of salad. Raven is more experimental than I. Last night he made spring rolls with shrimp from the coast (we live an hour away) (we freeze it) and veggies from the garden. We raise beef & if we have beef in the freezer we have lots of burgers without the buns. Oh gosh, I could go on and on about this.
My very favorite cookbook when I had small children -- and one I still use a lot because it's recipes are simple and wholesome -- is one called Whole Food For the Whole Family, published by the La Leche League. I'm pretty sure it is out of print now, but I'm sure it can be found through the magic of the internet. In fact, here it is! https://www.alibris.com/search/books/isbn/9780452255036?invid=18375030741&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=NMPi&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20865478211&gbraid=0AAAAAC92pG6LUE5PuXIbUxPyPLP4zha1o&gclid=Cj0KCQjwoZbBBhDCARIsAOqMEZV0gD4TgpSowoJ2dPRTLV-VOcpkeBivwBmHoaiJso_uBWItEekIun4aAhYzEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
I was thinking about the culture that foodways are a part of. For example, in the Palestinian cookbook the author talks a lot about how food fits in with festive times, like weddings, and the presentation goes beyond the food, but to the traditional embroidered clothing and linens. Does that make sense? I'm not explaining it very well I fear. When you come back to Wisconsin, you should check out a place called Folklore Village, a rural folk life center.
Yes, that does make sense. And thank you for the Wisconsin tip. I'll be back. I didn't get to visit the Aldo Leopold Center.
I teach nature classes for babies as well as for 2-4 year olds, so I'll look forward to showing Little Fawn around.
This looks delicious! And thank you for connecting cooking to environmentalism.
I grow plants to make herbal medicines as well as to eat, and food and the joy of eating something I tended is good medicine, too!
I will almost always check out a recipe...especially from you.
Well, then, I'll double-check to make sure I list all the ingredients.
To answer your subject line, I’ll read anything that says Janisse Ray.
That is so kind. Susanne, I hope you forgive my tardiness on our other project. I'll send you a message, but I finally had time to measure this morning and the strap is about 40 inches. I'm counting the 1.5 inch hooks in that. So maybe 37 inches of the leather.
I was thrilled to read the recipe and find that it’s gluten-free—yay, I can make it and eat it too! Thanks, Janisse!
Exactly! I'm trying to avoid gluten too!
I recommend Alicia Kennedy if you’re interested in a woman thinking sharply about food and cooking, and all the labor that goes into it. Kennedy wants to see the feminized labor in the home, the masculinized labor of chefs in a restaurant, and the invisible labor of agricultural workers, all at once. It’s bracing.
Michelle, I will definitely go find her work. Yes, it's a poignant intersection where those 3 issues collide.
I somehow did not develop the interest in cooking as a teenager and really only learned out of necessity as an adult. I enjoy baking far more than cooking. Luckily, I have a husband who can really cook and so I'm glad that aspect is taken care of. I do admire those with the ability and patience/interest to cook elaborate meals.
What a haul of kiwi, though! That's amazing!
Misti, plant kiwi! We finally have 2 going. I was totally inspired by my friend's success with it.
My mother wasn’t a cook, although she taught me (via her mother) how to cut up a chicken. She didn’t care much about cooking, so I, like you, taught myself how to cook, first bread and cookies, then at 12, chicken curry (following a recipe) while my mom was at class, studying to finish her undergraduate and then ms degrees. I’ve been a keen cook and baker, and certainly am glad of my connections there (and never thought badly about cooking!)
My sister never became interested in cooking though, and even now, eats quite simple and limited meals. Her former husband loved cooking, but she’s a plain cook.
My hubbie, too, has never really cooked. His mother chose not to teach him or his brothers to cook. Go figure. The youngest son (6 yrs younger than my hubbie and his older brother) has, in fact, learned to cook quite well.
His lawyer wife never was taught to cook by her single, non-cooking mom. So curious.
Thanks for prompting these remembrances!
I’ve baked all of our bread now for decades, favoring whole-grain loaves, not available in South Georgia decades ago. It’s now an easy habit, along with growing vegetables.
Lisa, remind me. Where in South Georgia?