Author Archives: Laurie

It’s All in the Architectural Details

Posted on by Laurie

My favorite thing about living in an historic neighborhood is the variety of architectural details. Unlike many modern neighborhoods in which properties are expected to conform to a set of design standards, in the older neighborhoods, there were often a great variety of styles. The Morning Star is part of the Houston and Pierre Streets Historic Residential District. The houses in this district are from the late 1800’s to early 1900’s and represent  Queen Anne, Italianate, Classical Revival, Tudor, and Vernacular Folk styles. Built in 1902, our house, a Queen Anne “transitional”, is one of the newer ones. This afternoon, I went for a stroll around the neighborhood and photographed some of many details one can see just walking around. The first three photos are from our house.

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2LC: Mushrooms

Posted on by Laurie

After a short hiatus, Two Little Chefettes have returned with their monthly cooking challenge. The ingredient for November is mushrooms. Thank you Ridha and Bebe!

I tend to have rather strong opinions about mushrooms. I think that most people cook them on too low a heat, for too long a time, with too much fat and without enough seasoning – the result being a rubbery, unappealing ingredient. I always cook mushrooms on a high heat, with just a little fat, with plenty of salt and pepper, and almost always with some sherry. That is how the Portobellos are prepared for this recipe. They are then stirred into the soup at the last minute. The result is a silky soup with slightly caramelized mushrooms.

Creamy Portobello Mushroom Soup

4 T. unsalted butter, divided

2 T. potato starch

2 c. flavorful vegetable broth (mine is a golden-orange because it has lots of carrots and some tomatoes)

2 c. whole milk*

1/2 c. chopped yellow onion

4 c. very thinly sliced fresh Portobello mushrooms

splash of dry pale sherry

salt and fresh ground pepper

1/4 t. ground paprika

1. Melt 2 T. of the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Whisk in the potato starch. Once the mixture is completely smooth, slowly whisk in the vegetable stock. Continue cooking, whisking occasionally, until perfectly smooth and slightly thickened. Whisk in the milk; and again, continue cooking, whisking occasionally, until perfectly smooth and slightly thickened.

2. Using about 1/2 T. of the remaining butter, saute onions in another pan until starting to turn translucent and lightly golden, but still slightly crisp. Stir into the soup base. The soup base will continue to thicken and will need to be whisked every few minutes.

3. Melt the remaining butter in the pan from the onions, stir in the mushrooms, and saute until almost cooked. Add the sherry and then salt and pepper the mushrooms. The sherry should be absorbed fairly quickly at which time the mushrooms should be done cooking. Stir mushrooms into soup base.

4. Stir in paprika and then adjust seasonings. Serve right away. Enjoy!

* Once time when I made this soup, I substituted soy milk. I thought that the soup turned out too sweet. So I would recommend sticking to regular milk.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Geometry

Posted on by Laurie

In discussing the theme for this week’s photography challenge, a certain person – who shall remain unnamed – and I immediately got into a minor disagreement over how to represent geometry in a photo. I decided to stick to my guns and use this photo because of its emphasis on shapes, planes and angles. What do you think: Does this show geometry? Yes, that is me fishing for you to agree with me! Forgive me!

Halloween Bars

Posted on by Laurie

Halloween Bars*

Makes about 30 bars

Similar to Hello Dolly Bars, I make these fun treats to use up leftover Halloween candy.

1 1/2 c. sweetened shredded coconut

1 c. graham cracker crumbs

1/2 c. unsalted butter melted

1 1/4 c. chopped walnuts

1 c. finely chopped candy bars such as Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Nestle’s Crunch Bars, Snickers, or Milky Ways

1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips, peanut butter chips or white chocolate chips

1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease a 13 x 9” baking pan.
  2. In a medium bowl, mix together coconut, graham cracker crumbs and butter. Spread evenly over bottom of the baking pan and then press crumb mixture down firmly.
  3. In the same bowl mix together the remaining ingredients.  Spoon the mixture evenly over the crumb crust.
  4. Bake for approximately 25 to 28 minutes or until lightly golden brown around the edges and no longer wet looking. Place baking pan on a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Once cooled, cover pan with plastic wrap and allow to firm up overnight before cutting to serve. If desired, chill the bars for an hour or two before serving in order to make them less sticky.

Variation: Combine all of the ingredients, except the sweetened condensed milk, in a large bowl. Press evenly into buttered baking pan. Spoon sweetened condensed milk over the top and bake.

*Recipe from my cookbook Confectionately Yours.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Foreign

Posted on by Laurie

Having spent quite a bit of time raking leaves over the past few days, I found myself pontificating on the subject of leaf etiquette and how to be a good neighbor. A friend interrupted me and replied, “Being a farm-girl, the concept of raking leaves is totally foreign to me.” So in all good fun, I dedicate this series of foreign-themed photos to my friend, Carolyn.…………

Improvised Tomato Pumpkin Soup

Posted on by Laurie

After making Bumpkins  yesterday, I found myself with leftover pumpkin that I wanted to use for dinner in some way. Being a great believer in the art of culinary improvisation, I decided to make something using only ingredients that I already had in the house; and besides, it was 7 pm before I started cooking dinner, I was still waiting for one room to check in, and there was no way that I was going to the grocery store. So here is what I came up with along with some suggested variations. The point of this post isn’t “Oh, this is the best soup ever … you’ve got to try it.”  (It is really good, though; otherwise, I wouldn’t have posted the recipe!) Rather, the point of this post is an exhortation to be creative. Go ahead, have fun and improvise … you might come up with something you like!

Improvised Tomato Pumpkin Soup

4 oz. dry quinoa pasta shells

1/4 c. diced red bell pepper, sautéed in olive oil

3 c. chopped tomatoes (I used Pomi brand from Italy)

1 1/4 c. packed pumpkin

2 c. vegetable stock

1 c. frozen corn

1 T. Italian Seasonings

1/2 t. hot red pepper flakes

dry white wine

fresh grated Romano cheese.

1. Put the pasta on to cook.  Meanwhile, saute peppers.

2. While the pasta is cooking and the peppers are sauteing, add the following to a 4-qt. stockpan: tomatoes, pumpkin, vegetable stock, corn, Italian Seasonings and red pepper flakes.  Cook over medium heat. Add peppers when they are crisp-tender.

3. When pasta is done cooking, drain and then stir into soup. Add white wine to taste, about 2 T. Cook for 5 more minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

4. Serve topped with grated cheese. (Some crusty French bread would go really well with this soup.)

Suggested Variations

– substitute beans for corn (or use in addition to corn)

– substitute yellow onions for red peppers

– use another pasta, or use rice

– top with cheddar cheese

– use red wine instead of white

– add fresh herbs

– add croutons when serving

Have fun! Enjoy! I’d love to hear your ideas …

Bumpkins with Pure White Cookie Icing

Posted on by Laurie

These pumpkin oatmeal cookies are absolutely one of my favorite cookies to serve during autumn months. I made them yesterday afternoon for my guests. The recipes are from my cookbook, Confectionately Yours.

Bumpkins

Makes about 34 cookies

1 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. rolled oats

1/2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. baking soda

1/4 t. salt

1 t. ground cinnamon

1/2 t. ground ginger

1/4 t. ground mace

1/4 t. ground nutmeg

1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened

3/4 c. dark brown sugar, firmly packed

1/3 c. granulated white sugar

1/2 c. packed pumpkin puree

1 lg. egg

1 t. vanilla extract

2/3 c. walnuts, finely chopped

2/3 c. baking raisins, sweetened dried cranberries, pitted and chopped fresh dates, and/or chopped prunes, combined

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, mace, and nutmeg. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in pumpkin, egg, and vanilla. On lowest speed of mixer, beat in dry ingredients until well combined and then stir in nuts and fruit.
  4. Scoop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto baking sheets spacing cookies 3” apart.
  5. Bake for about 14 to 16 minutes or until cookies are just set and are lightly browned on the bottoms. Place baking sheets on wire racks and allow cookies to cool. Serving suggestions: once cooled drizzle with Pure White Cookie Icing.

Pure White Cookie Icing

This icing will add  just a little sweetness to your baked goods, and will make them see a little moister, but is primarily used for decoration.

 

1 c. confectioner’s sugar

1 T. milk

2 t. light corn syrup

  1. Place confectioner’s sugar in a small bowl. Stir in milk and light corn syrup until perfectly smooth. The mixture will be a little on the thick side, but should pour from a spoon in a slow, smooth stream.
  2. Drizzle or pipe onto cooled baked goods right away. (This is thick enough to pipe thin lines but not thick enough to pipe firm shapes.)

Winding Down

Posted on by Laurie

It was with some sentimentality that I photographed the garden yesterday. I knew that a freeze was predicted for last night, a sure sign that garden will be winding down for the year. As I sit here and write before sunrise, it is 30 degrees F. outside; and though it is toasty warm in the B&B, I know that once the sun comes up and I take a look around, I’ll see that some of my flowers and herbs have been nipped by the cold. It will take cooler temperatures to make the hardy perennials and shrubs go dormant for the winter. In fact, if the day time temperatures are warm enough, the ground cover roses will keep producing blooms for up to 4 more weeks, but the other roses are almost done for the year. The chrysanthemum plants will be fine, but probably not the flowers. The asters, which put out one big flush of flowers every year in late October have had their show, though they will have color for a little longer.

Yesterday’s Garden

Aster ‘Raydon’s Favorite’

Rose ‘Memorial Day’

Chrysanthemum ‘Diana’ with Ground Cover Roses

White Rose (unknown variety)

White Mum (unknown variety)

Crape Myrtle Foliage

Postscript:

It was a beautiful sunrise. After serving breakfast, I did a brief inspection of the garden. I lost the what was left of my hibiscuses, the potted impatiens, a few hostas, all of my Autumn Joy sedums, and some of the chrysanthemums. Overall, not too bad.

Sunrise This Morning

An American Tea Party

Posted on by Laurie

Americans rarely have teas these days. When one hears the expression “tea party”, the topic of conversation is far more likely to be politics than a social affair. As far as I can tell, the tradition of having tea parties largely disappeared during the social unrest of the 1960’s and 70’s. Probably the main change to have emerged from that period that would have contributed to the demise of the these gatherings was the emergence of working women amongst the middle and upper classes.  My grandmothers, as with most  women of their socioeconomic class, were stay-at-home mothers; I don’t think that either of them ever had a paying job. Starting with my mother’s generation, women entered the work force en masse; and all of the women in my social circle who are my age or younger work.  So, of course, who has time for polishing silver, making finger sandwiches and dainty cookies, and getting all dressed up for a party in the afternoon?

Literally speaking, the 60’s and 70’s are now history, and it is easy to feel nostalgia for some of the social niceties that got thrown away with so many of the inequalities and injustices from that era (and earlier).  I never, even for a moment, wish that I lived in an earlier time; and yet, occasionally it is fun to recapture a bit of refinement from the past. So, yesterday I hosted an afternoon tea party  – using my grandmothers’ china, crystal and silver – for no special reason except for that it seemed high time for a tea.

The Menu

Darjeeling Tea

Milk Oolong Tea

Cap Cette Picpoul de Pinet

Autumn Fruits Punch

Egg Salad Finger Sandwiches with Whole Grain Mustard

White Bean Sundried Tomato “Humus” & Spinach Finger Sandwiches

Smoked Salmon & Lemon Canapes

Cucumber Canapes

Pecan Crackers & Gouda Cheese

Pumpkin Butter & Whipped Cream Tartlets

Pumpkin Cream Puffs

Lemon Curd & Blueberry Tartlets

Gingerbread Teapot Cookies

Blackberry Jammies

Florentines

Chocolate Rum Balls

Fresh Fruits, Nuts, Dark Chocolate-covered Raisins

(I was so busy yesterday that I didn’t get a chance to take photos. So I staged the one above this afternoon. I wish that I had had a chance to have gotten a shot of the whole spread.)