Sutter’s Fort Gingersnaps

Holdin’ Down The Fort

Sometimes you don’t realize how good you have it until you don’t. Yesterday my daughter and I participated in a program that 4th graders at her school get a chance to do every year. We were part of the Suttter’s Fort ELP program, which basically means we become the museum.

For almost 3 months, the kids have been studying the history of the fort and its occupants. Each child is given their own identity and is required to research that person’s history at the fort. The kids wear costumes the whole time and participate in activities that would have normally happened at the fort: like weaving, candle making, and cooking.

In order for the kids to do all this great stuff, a parent has to volunteer to help out and/or run one of the activities—and be in period costume as well. I chose to run the bakery. (I figured I’d stick with my strengths.) Baking bread in a beehive oven is no easy task. It’s an all-day affair, and I have had a new appreciation for my oven and my dishwasher, and let’s not forget the washing machine…

I can’t even imagine the amount of back-breaking work required just to survive as a settler at that time. If just baking the bread took all day, how long would it take to do everything else? And don’t get me started on laundry. I get why bathing and clothes washing only happened monthly. Yes. Monthly.

Our pioneers did know how to enjoy life, and all of the hard work made for some great get-togethers with music and neighbors. They danced, they laughed and they ate tasty treats like these gingersnap cookies we made in the oven yesterday after the bread was done.

Sutter’s Fort Gingersnaps
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Classic Apple Pie

Baseball v.s. El Nino

This past weekend was Opening Day for Little League. We’ve been waiting for this for months, and it’s not just about the baseball. Opening Day means a parade with the mayor, fire engines, and 1800 kids dressed in their uniforms marching down a spectator-lined street. It’s oh-so Mayberry, and it’s the very definition of Americana. You just don’t see this everyday—at least not anymore. I love it.

The parade kicks off an entire day on the diamond. Nine hours of baseball, hot dogs, seeds, and forced relaxation; not to mention hanging with friends. It is my highlight of Spring. (Or at least a reminder that Spring is almost here.) That is the way it was supposed to be, anyway.

This year, for the first time I can remember, we had rain. A lot of it. We were able to sneak the parade in before the rain got really bad. The best part? Everyone still came. Armed with umbrellas and rain boots they still came, which is good. I know I am not alone in my psychosis.

As you can imagine, all of the games were cancelled, and it looks like they will be cancelled until April. (Okay. That may be an exaggeration, sort of…) It’s killing us (well, maybe just me), and while I realize that reaction is beyond irrational, it’s where I am.

I know what you all are saying, get a grip. And I am trying…it’s a process. As part of that process I am now going to get a grip of this Classic Apple Pie ‘cause that’s as close as I am getting to baseball tradition at this point.

Classic Apple Pie
Adapted from King Arthur Flour

This recipe gives some great tips for working the dough, and recommends lightly greasing the pie plate for easy serving—brilliant! I find that King Arthur Flour makes fantastic crusts—it is a staff favorite. Read more…

Spicy Baked Chicken Wings

The Cookbook Club
Four years ago, my sister was inspired by the Food 52’s annual Piglet cookbook competition (it’s going on right now) to start a cookbook club with a group of five friends, and their families, who she knew were interested in cooking. Though some us had met before, and in some cases knew each other pretty well, it was a random group of people thrown together in pursuit of good food. The common denominator was my sister, and her love of friends and cooking.

This past weekend we celebrated our 20th Cookbook Club dinner—which is pretty remarkable considering that to make it happen five families have to coordinate their busy schedules. The cooking and choosing of books is the easy part. Try navigating through the sports, school, and work demands of 21 people. Our cookbook was the Brown Sugar Kitchen Cookbook by Tanya Holland. To say we ate well would be an understatement.

When the club started, nobody thought it would last this long. We hoped it would, but you know how these things go…they eventually fizzle out, or there’s drama between group members.

What makes this group different is it has ceased to just be about the food. The food is fantastic, but the real draw is wanting to spend time and catch up with each other. (If we can do that while having some rockin’ chicken wings and a cocktail, so much the better.) The change happened, I think, the night we went to The Slanted Door for dinner.

In February of 2013, we chose Vietnamese Home Cooking by Charles Phan as our cookbook. (See Bo Luc Lac: Shaking Beef, our What’s For Dinner Wednesday post from February 2013.) But, instead of having a dinner at someone’s house, we decided this time we would do it a little differently. We made reservations for 10 (Adult swim. No Kids.) at the Slanted Door and had Charles Phan (sort of…who knows who was on the line that night?) cook us our cookbook club dinner. (We were hoping he could sign our cookbooks while we were there. Didn’t happen.) We ordered all of the dishes we had made at home, and discussed them as we would at any club dinner. We laughed. We drank. We were loud and it was a blast. (The club is looking at doing the same thing for our next cookbook, Mustard’s Grill Napa Valley Cookbook by Cindy Pawlcyn. Brace yourself, Napa!)

They say food brings friends and family together, and if the friendships that have come out of this genius idea of my sister’s are any indication, it’s true. We call ourselves a cookbook club but it is so much more than that. We’ve bonded over so many other things besides food: woodworking, medical emergencies, teen angst, kids leaving for college… But it started when all of us sat around the table together and ate a really good meal.

If you’re curious, the list of cookbooks we covered can be found here.

Spicy Baked Chicken Wings
Adapted from Brown Sugar Kitchen Cookbook by Tanya Holland
Makes about 20 wings
Her recipe is about perfect. The only thing I would do to improve it is to marinate the wings in buttermilk before baking.

Hula Pie

Who’s Jared?

While watching TV last night with my husband, one of the ubiquitous Valentine’s Day jewelry commercials came on. This prompted our annual Valentine’s Day discussion. It went something like this:

Husband: Did you do anything for me Valentine’s Day?
Me: No. After knowing you almost 19 years, I’ve pretty much got you figured out.
Husband: Good…Do you still need validation of our relationship the day of?
Me: Again, after 19 years I have learned not to hold my breath…
Husband: Good, then that Tennis Bracelet will be a big surprise.
Me: (rolls eyes) Right…

Suffice it to say, Valentine’s Day probably won’t be all that exciting, at least for my husband and I. The kids, however, will want to do something.

Ice cream sundaes or giant cookies have been our go-to celebration, but I think this year I’ll put a spin on the ice cream thing…and do an ice cream pie. The main reason? The weather has been so fantastic lately that it reminds me of our family vacation to Maui, and the Hula Pie we had at Duke’s. We were just reminiscing about it the over the weekend.

I have made Hula Pie, but not for a while, so Valentine’s Day is a great excuse. It’s also a perfect reward for a day spent getting my vegetable garden ready for planting because that, my friends, is how my valentine shows me he loves me!

Hula Pie
Ingredients
1 9-inch chocolate cookie pie crust*
1 gallon vanilla ice cream (We love Loards or Alden’s Organic Vanilla.)
4 ounces chocolate fudge topping
6 ounces chopped macadamia nuts plus some for topping
Whipped cream

Directions
Bring fudge topping to room temperature.

Soften the ice cream slightly, and mix it with the chopped macadamia nuts. Scoop the ice cream into pie shell, smoothing it into a rough dome, or bombe. It needs to be 6 to 8 inches high in the center.

Heat a bit of milk, and use it to dilute the chocolate topping. Then use a warmed knife to spread chocolate topping over mounded ice cream.

Put the pie in the freezer until you are ready to serve.

Cover the top of your pie with a layer of whipped cream and chopped macadamia nuts before serving.

*We carry Nabisco’s Oreo Pie Crust, and also the Oreo wafers, if you’d prefer to make your own pie crust. To make your own, simply mix chocolate wafer crumbs (about a cup and a half) with a little sugar and about ¼ cup melted butter. Press the mixture into a pie pan.

Variations
This is also amazing with Talenti Salted Caramel Gelato instead of the vanilla—and also Häagen Dazs Coffee Ice Cream!